Texas Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science has named a new advisory board, and will hold the group's first meeting as part of the events surrounding completion of Tech's new $14 million Bayer Plant Science Building. The advisory board meeting will be held on Friday (Oct. 30), while an open house will run during the afternoon from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Eric Hequet, chairman of Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science, said 12-member advisory board includes:

• David Becker, Head of Cotton Breeding, Bayer CropScience
• Eric Best, Agronomist-Monsanto
• John Burke, Lab Director and Research Leader, USDA-ARS
• Amy Graham, President, Texas Nursery and Landscape Association
• Chace Hill, Grape Producer
• Larry Lambright, Director of Sorghum Breeding, Chromatin
• Jaroy Moore, Resident Director, Texas A&M AgriLife-Lubbock
• Shelly Nut, Executive Director, Texas Peanut Producers Board
• Doug Smellage, Founder and Owner, Lawns of Dallas
• Dale Swinburn, Cotton Producer
• Shawn Wade, Director Policy Analysis & Research, Plains Cotton Growers
• Justin Weinheimer, Crop Improvement Program Director, United Sorghum Checkoff Program

The meeting of the advisory board is part of a day-long series of activities surrounding the official open house celebrating the completion of the new building, Hequet said. Groundbreaking on the expansion and renovation project began in late April last year.

The project adds 21,122 square feet of new construction, and includes 2,440 square feet of renovation and exterior upgrades to the existing home of the department. The building project is funded by donations to Texas Tech, including lead contributions from Bayer CropScience.

Separately, the day's highlights include naming noted plant breeder and researcher Ellen Peffley to Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science Faculty Hall of Fame. Her reception in the new building is from 4:30 to 6 p.m. She is the sixth faculty hall of fame member to be added to the distinguished group. Peffley, who was the winner of the Chancellor's Council Award for Distinguished Teaching, retired from the university in 2008.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Eric Hequet, Department Chair, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2838 or eric.hequet@ttu.edu

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