This story was first published in the Davis College NewsCenter. See the original article here.
Longtime professor and administrator Dick Auld from Texas Tech's Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources will be inducted into the college's Department of Plant & Soil Science's ‘Hall of Fame' at a 2 p.m. ceremony on Friday (Oct. 13) in the Bayer Plant Science West Building Atrium.
“Dr. Auld was my mentor when I came to Texas Tech University, and he went out of his way to help young faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate student workers,” said Glen Ritchie, professor of crop physiology and chair of Texas Tech's Department of Plant & Soil Science. “In addition to his research, his legacy will be his former students and how he cared for others and went out of his way to guide them to success.”
After more than 25 years of teaching, research and administration within the Department of Plant and Soil Science, Auld retired in 2016. While at Texas Tech, Auld's research has focused on using plant genetics to develop commercial crop varieties which produce unique products with enhanced value.
Much of his work concentrated on developing cultivars of canola, cotton, and minor oilseed crops. His projects centered on the development of industrial oilseed crops for use in the renewable production of biofuels and industrial biopolymers.
Prior to joining the Texas Tech faculty in 1991 as professor and department chairman, Auld served as an assistant, associate and full professor at the University of Idaho. In addition, he served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne. Auld received a bachelor's and master's degrees in agronomy and plant breeding from New Mexico State. His doctorate in plant science, genetics and breeding is from Montana State University.
He was recognized as a Fellow of both American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America, and a Distinguished Alumni by New Mexico State University. Other honors include the Texas Association of Crop Consultants' Public Service Award; Texas Seed Trade Association's Distinguished Service Award; and Big 12 Center for Economic Development's Big 12 Hero Award.