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2007
STERLING B. HENDRICKS
MEMORIAL LECTURESHIP AWARD
Sponsored by USDA-Agricultural Research Service
Co-Sponsored by AGRO & AGFD
 Dr.
Bruce E. Dale will receive the 2007 Sterling B. Hendricks
Memorial Lectureship Award and will present a lecture entitled, “Why
Cellulosic Ethanol is Nearer than You Think: Creating the
Biofuels Future.”
Bruce
E. Dale is internationally recognized for his work on biomass
conversion and sustainability.
His
research and professional interests
lie at
the intersection of chemical engineering and the life sciences.
Specifically, he is interested in the environmentally
sustainable conversion of plant matter to industrial
products- fuels, chemicals and materials- while meeting
human and animal needs for food and feed.
Dr.
Dale leads the Biomass Conversion Research Lab at Michigan
State University and is associate director of the MSU Office
of Bio-based Technologies. In addition, he is a professor
of Chemical Engineering and former Chair of the Department
of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Michigan
State University as well as holding an appointment in the
Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.
In
2000, Dr. Dale led the National Research Council team
that authored the report “Biobased
Industrial Products: Research and Commercialization Priorities."
Among Dr. Dale's 15 U.S. and foreign patents is one for
the process of ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) used to pretreat
biomass to enhance the breakdown of cellulose and hemicellulose.
He is now at work to integrate the AFEX process with ruminant
animal feed production and biofuel production in regional
biomass processing centers. These regional
centers may help rural communities capture more economic
value from the biofuel revolution.
Dr. Dale has authored over 100 referred journal papers.
Among his honors and awards, are the Charles D. Scott Award
for his contributions to the use of biotechnology to produce
fuels, chemical, and other industrial products from renewable
plant resources, the Abell Young Faculty Research Award, and
the Halliburton Outstanding Young Faculty Award. He is a
member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
and the American Chemical Society. Dr. Dale will deliver
his lecture immediately following presentation of the Sterling Hendricks
Award on August 20 at 11:30 am. A reception will follow at
1 pm.
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2006
STERLING B. HENDRICKS
MEMORIAL
LECTURESHIP AWARD
 Dr.
Stanley B. Prusiner won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine for his discovery of prions, an entirelynew
genre of disease-causing agents, and for the elucidation
of the underlying principles of their mode of action. It
had previously been shown that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
kuru, and scrapie (a disease insheep) could be transmitted
through extracts of diseased brains.In 1982, Prusiner found
that the infectious agent was comprised of a single protein
which he named a prion, an acronymderived from "proteinaceous
infectious particle." He subsequently showed that
the prion gene was found in all animals tested, including
humans, and that the prion protein could fold into two
distinct conformations, one thatresulted in disease and
the other normal. It was then shown that the disease-causing
prion protein had infectious properties and could initiate
a chain reaction so that normal protein is converted into
the disease-causing form.
Dr.
Prusiner’s work directly impacts agriculture since
bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, is
a prion disease that can be transmitted to cows through
feedstuff supplemented with offals from scrapie-infected
sheep. This discovery provides important insights that
may furnish the basis to understand the biological mechanisms
underlying other types of dementia-related diseases, for
example Alzheimer's disease, and establishes a foundation
for drug development and new types of medical treatment
strategies.
The STERLING B. HENDRICKS MEMORIAL LECTURESHIP AWARD, established in 1981,
recognizes scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the chemical
science of agriculture. Dr. Hendricks contributed to diverse scientific disciplines,
including soil science, mineralogy, agronomy, plant physiology, geology, and
chemistry. He is most frequently remembered for discovering phytochrome, the
light-activated molecule that regulates many plant processes. Nominees may
be outstanding, senior scientists in industry, universities, or government
positions and current ARS employees are not eligible. The award includes an
honorarium of $2000, a bronze medallion; expenses to present the Lecture. All
of these costs are borne by ARS which selects the winner.
Following
presentation of the Sterling B. Hendricks Award by the
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Dr. Prusiner will
give an award address entitled, “Synthetic prions,
mad cows, and scientific heresy.” A reception and
symposium will follow.
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2005 STERLING B. HENDRICKS
MEMORIAL
LECTURESHIP AWARD
 Donald
L. Sparks is an internationally renowned soil chemist,
particularly recognized for his research on the kinetics
of soil chemical processes, surface chemistry of soils
and soil components using in-situ spectroscopic and microscopic
techniques, and the physical chemistry of soil potassium.
He is currently the S. Hallock du Pont Endowed Chair of
Soil Chemistry and Frances Alison Professor at the University
of Delaware.
Dr.
Sparks pioneered the application of chemical kinetics to
soils and soil minerals including development of widely
used methodology, elucidation of rate-limiting steps and
mechanisms, and coupling kinetic studies with molecular
scale investigations. He was one of the first soil scientists
to use synchrotron-based techniques, particularly bulk-
and micro-focused x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy
to directly speciate metals and oxyanions at soil mineral
surfaces and in contaminated soils. He is widely recognized
as one of the leaders in using these techniques to unravel
many important soil chemical reactions and processes. His
discoveries in the late 1990s on the formation and role
of surface precipitates in the retention, fate and transport
of trace metals such as nickel and zinc in natural systems
have had major impacts in the areas of sorption models,
metal speciation and soil remediation/contamination. He
and his group have recently speciated metals in hyper-accumulator
plants.
In addition to carrying out fundamental research, Dr. Sparks has consistently
applied his work to agricultural problems such as relating the kinetics of
potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous, and boron to soil fertility and environmental
quality. He also conducts research on the environmental fate of industrial
contaminants as part of an ongoing program to devise safe and effective methods
to dispose of these materials.
Dr. Sparks is author, co-author or editor of numerous publications including
books, book chapters, and refereed publications. In addition to his research,
he is well known as an extraordinary teacher and advisor of graduate students
and postdoctoral researchers who are now becoming leaders in the soil and environmental
sciences. Among his many honors and awards are President, International Union
of Soil Sciences; President, Soil Science Society of America; Fellow, American
Association for the Advancement of Science, Soil Science Society of America,
and the American Society of Agronomy; Soil Science Research Award; M.L. and
Chrystie M. Jackson Award in Soil Chemistry; Environmental Quality Research
Award; Francis Alison Award, University of Delaware; and University of Delaware
Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Advising and Mentoring Award.The USDA-Agricultural
Research Service will present Dr. Sparks with the Award which is co-sponsored
by the Agrochemical and the Agricultural & Food Chemistry Divisions. Dr.
Sparks will give an award address entitled “Grand Challenges and Opportunities
in the Environmental Sciences: the Importance of Basic Research and Technology.” A
reception will follow.
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2004
STERLING B. HENDRICKS
MEMORIAL
LECTURESHIP AWARD
 Dr.
Robert L. Buchanan’s career accomplishments have significantly
impacted the chemical science of agriculture
through the advancement of food science as well as the protection
of public health. He has been a strong manager and leader
in his work assignments and scientific field, impacting
on the policies of regulatory agencies related to microbial
food safety. Dr. Buchanan’s primary contributions
to food chemistry involve his research on thermal resistance
of foodborne pathogens, irradiation of pathogens, and mathematical
modeling of pathogen behavior. His work to develop quantitative
risk assessment methodology and mathematical means for modeling
the behavior of foodborne pathogens has become the guideline
of today’s Pathogen Modeling Program worldwide. This
technology is the basis of practical strategies for controlling
foodborne pathogens in agricultural commodities in addition
to scientific advice to regulatory agencies and industry
on microbiological food safety issues and policies. This
technology is becoming the basis for risk assessment policies
for regulatory agencies and food industries worldwide.
Following completion of his Ph.D. in Food Science at Rutgers
University and post-doctoral training in food science/mycotoxicology
at the University of Georgia, Dr. Buchanan became a member
of the faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences
at Drexel University. After leaving Drexel, he took a position
as Supervisory Microbiologist with the Agricultural Research
Service (ARS)/USDA Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC).
Since holding that position, he has served as Deputy Administrator
of the Food Safety Inspection Service/USDA and as a research
microbiologist at the ARS/USDA ERRC. Currently Dr. Buchanan
is Senior Science Advisor for the Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) of the Food & Drug Administration
(FDA) where he also is Director of the CFSAN Office of Science.
Dr. Buchanan’s work has resulted in over 150 research
publications and over 140 abstracts involving presentations
at meetings. In his present role as Lead Scientist for the
President’s Food Safety Initiative, he has led the development
of FDA research programs. The research he has fostered has
resulted in understanding the origin and subsequently the
control of contamination by a number of microorganisms in
vegetables, fruits and fruit juices. The FDA issued guidelines
based on these efforts for the protection, handling, processing
and marketing of these agricultural commodities. States have
implemented Good Agricultural Practices and Good Manufacturing
Practices related to the research produced under Dr. Buchanan’s
leadership as a manager and director. For his many contributions
to his field, Dr. Buchanan is recognized as an outstanding
chemist.
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