Texas A&M’s soil and crop sciences department says goodbye to long-time faculty members

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M University’s department of soil and crop sciences will be losing the deepest layer of its “soil profile” when six long-time faculty members end their full-time teaching positions Aug. 31.

Dr. Mike Chandler, Dr. Richard Loeppert, Dr. Don Vietor, Dr. C. Tom Hallmark, Dr. Lloyd Rooney and Dr. David Zuberer have spent anywhere from 29 to 46 years in the department and touched the lives of more than 12,000 students combined.

“It always has an impact on a department when scientists of stature phase out of their research and teaching,” said Dr. David Baltensperger, soil and crop sciences department head. “But when six of them with more than 540 publications, more than $16 million in grants and who have trained more than 240 graduate students all do it at once, it truly leaves a hole.

“However, with every hole there is an opportunity to establish a new seed and to prepare our department to meet the future needs of agriculture in Texas and the world,” Baltensperger said.

The six professors were honored at a career celebration ceremony earlier this month.

Rooney, a Regents Professor and Faculty Fellow retiring after 46 years, is most noted for his creation of the department’s Cereal Quality Lab. He also initiated research in Mali that stimulated profitable food production from African grains, led research and hosted numerous workshops for the tortilla industry, and provided data on quality for numerous wheat cultivars.

He is a member of the Texas A&M University Intercollegiate Faculty in Food. In 2007, he was awarded the Texas A&M Presidential Award of Excellence for Faculty Service to International Students and has been inducted into the Mexican Academy of Science for his research on maize and mentoring of Mexican students.

Rooney serves as consultant to the U.S. Grains Council, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, International Foundation for Science, University of Pretoria, Embrapa-Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, and the National Center of Agricultural and Forest Technology in Central America.

Rooney’s longtime research assistant, Cassandra McDonough, will also retire on Aug. 31.

Vietor, a professor of agronomic systems for 35 years, earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate from Cornell University. During his career, he taught more than 3,000 students through 12 different courses, as well as drafted and helped offer 13 national and regional faculty workshops that introduced “systems thinking and practice” for undergraduate curricula in agronomy and other agricultural disciplines.

Vietor served as national chair of the student activities and crop physiology divisions and on the board of directors for the American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America.

In 2001, the American Society of Agronomy awarded him their National Resident Education Award. His research and teaching contributions were recognized through his election as Fellow in both the American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America.

Zuberer is a professor of soil microbiology with 33 years of service and has taught almost 3,000 students. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from West Virginia University and his doctorate from the University of South Florida.

He received numerous awards for teaching, including the Association of Former Students Award in Excellence for Undergraduate Teaching at the College and University Levels and the Soil Science Society of America’s Soil Science Education Award.

He is a Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has advised or co-advised the Texas A&M Agronomy Society for 18 years.

Chandler, a professor of weed science for the past 29 years, earned his bachelor’s degree from West Texas State University and his master’s and doctorate from Oklahoma State University. Prior to coming to Texas A&M, he was with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service at the Southern Weed Science Laboratory in Stoneville, Miss.

As a professor in the department of soil and crop sciences at Texas A&M University, he has advised graduate students and taught chemical weed control and weed biology and ecology.

Chandler served as president of the Southern Weed Science Society, the Weed Science Society of America and the Southern Weed Science Society Endowment Foundation. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the Southern society and is a Fellow in the American society. He also has been presented with the Outstanding Educator Award and the Teaching Award from the two organizations.

Hallmark, a professor of pedology, earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Technological College, a master’s from Texas Tech University and a doctorate from The Ohio State University. After four years at the University of Florida, he accepted an appointment as an associate professor at Texas A&M in 1980 and was promoted to professor in 1991.

Hallmark holds a joint appointment with Texas A&M University and Texas AgriLife Research, and is a member of the graduate faculty. He served as undergraduate coordinator and advisor for the department of soil and crop sciences for 18 years before accepting more classroom teaching and research responsibilities in 2004.

Throughout his 31-year tenure with Texas A&M, he taught more than 4,100 students and served as coach of the Texas A&M University Soil Judging Team for 29 years, preparing 84 students in describing and interpreting soil properties in regional and national competition.

Loeppert, a professor of soil chemistry for 32 years, earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University and master’s and doctorate from the University of Florida. He is a member of the Texas A&M University graduate faculty and has been active in teaching, research and graduate advising in soil chemistry.

His research has been principally related to inorganic chemistry in soils, with emphasis on environmental quality, trace metal chemistry, nano- and reactive-mineral phases, phosphate chemistry, and nutrient acquisition by plants. In addition, he has had strong international involvement in Bangladesh, Mexico, Niger, Philippines, Spain and Zimbabwe.

Loeppert was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy.

Other faculty members who have left the department of soil and crop sciences in the past year include: Dr. Jurg Blumenthal, Dr. Milt Engelke, Dr. Neal El-Hout, Dr. Bob Wiedenfeld, Dr. Gerald Evers, Dr. Lloyd Nelson, Dr. John Matocha and Dr. Richard Duble.

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