CALS students, faculty, alumnus among 2012 GSD honorees
On April 25, the N.C. State University chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta (GSD), the Honor Society of Agriculture, recognized and honored academic achievement and contributions to agriculture by faculty, students, staff and alumni of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as well as of the colleges of Natural Resources and Veterinary Medicine.
Honored as faculty initiates from CALS were Dr. K.S.U. (Jay) Jayaratne, assistant professor, Agricultural and Extension Education; Dr. David W.W. Jones, assistant professor, Agricultural and Extension Education; Dr. Chris Reberg-Horton, assistant professor, Crop Science; and Dr. Sheri Schwab, associate director, N.C. Cooperative Extension.
Named 2012 alumni initiate was James H. Howie, a 1979 CALS graduate in biological and agricultural engineering, who is manager of Dairy Development and Organic Sales at Southern Marketing Agency. And CALS honorary initiates were Robert L. Ford, executive director of the North Carolina Poultry Federation, and state Sen. Brent F. Jackson, a Sampson County agribusinessman.
They were recognized during GSD’s annual banquet at the McKimmon Center, along with 19 seniors and graduate students from CALS and the College of Natural Resources, as well as 21 initiates from N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine who were inducted into the honor society.
Dr. Johnny Wynne, CALS dean, was featured speaker at the event. His topic was “Global Challenges with Agricultural and Agro-bioscience Solutions: Opportunities for N.C. State.”
The N.C. State University Gamma Sigma Delta chapter began in 1955. The organization’s objectives are the advancement of agriculture in all its phases, the maintenance and improvement of the relations of agriculture and related sciences to other industries, and the recognition of the responsibilities of those engaged in all aspects of agriculture to humankind. — Terri Leith
