Ellen Peffley, longtime horticulture leader, retires from PSS
Ellen Peffley, the self-described city girl from Albuquerque who grew up to become one of the most outstanding professors in Texas Tech University's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and winner of the Chancellor's Council Award for Distinguished Teaching, is retiring at the end of August.
"I've been really blessed because I love to teach and I love getting kids inspired," said Peffley, who serves as a professor of horticulture in the Department of Plant and Soil Science. "I love my job, but it's time to do something else."
Ground Breaker. Peffley earned her bachelor's degree in 1977 and master's degree in horticulture at New Mexico State University in 1981. She completed her doctorate in agronomy from NMSU in 1985, the first doctorate awarded to a woman in that department.
She transferred to NMSU from the University of New Mexico as a junior music major. Peffley said she got hooked on agriculture while taking a senior level vegetable production course. "At the time, really I didn't know much about agriculture except that I had this desire to know about horticulture," she says. "Later, I knew I wanted to be a 'field man,' which in politically correct terms would now be a field representative."
NASA Connections. Peffley served as an Asgrow Seed Company field production representative in Gonzales, Calif., and a vegetable quality assurance analyst in Kalamazoo, Mich., during the late 1970s. She joined Texas Tech as a visiting assistant professor in 1984 and rose through the academic ranks over the next two decades. She was named a professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science in 2001.
More recently, though, Peffley has been reaching for the stars. She and her Texas Tech research team have been working with NASA's Advanced Life Sciences program to provide onions as a sustainable fresh food supply for astronauts on extended missions.
Onion Breeding. Meanwhile, this summer Peffley led an innovative study abroad class that took Tech students to prominent gardens in Europe. The class included tours of several gardens and museums in Paris and the surrounding communities, as well as Giverny, Normandy, Northern France, and Southern Belgium.
Away from campus, Peffley leads an active life, including singing in the Lubbock Chorale, reading and gardening. In the coming months Peffley says she'll be continuing her onion breeding program at Tech and has plans to commercialize what's known as the 'Lady Raider' onion. In addition, she is writing a book and starting a new business.
Written by Norman Martin
CONTACT: Ellen Peffley, Professor of Horticulture, Texas Tech University Department of Plant and Soil Science at (806) 742-2637 ellen.peffley@ttu.edu
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