Agricultural News
Whitson Era at OSU's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Draws to a Close
Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:10:46 CDT
Dr. Bob Whitson's seven-year tenure as Dean and Vice President of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resouces at Oklahoma State University draws to a close with his retirement effective July 31st. He has served in that position and as vice president/director of the two state agencies administered through the division: the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.
Whitson recently spoke with Ron Hays about his time at OSU and the legacy he will leave behind. He said one of the most important achievements is the broad-based communication the university enjoys with a variety of agricultural groups, industries and organizations.
"I think our folks have become more and more aware of these great organizations and groups that we need to listen to. We've got a dean's advisory council that provides a lot of input to us and they've been marvelous across the state to bring issues, to talk about things, 'Bob, here's some things you need to look at.' So, I think communications between what's going on in the state, looking at our land grant mission, and saying 'How do we do the best job with that?'"
Whitson said he is also pleased with the breadth of the whole division which now deals with agriculture and natural resources.
"We put a new department out there dealing with wildlife issues, range issues, certainly fisheries and forestry. Those things are all natural resource oriented and when you look at, certainly the spread of the red cedar and fire dangers, and the fire problems, and the impact of potential endangered species on what it might do to wind energy, for example. There were just so many things out there that needed to be in one department to help focus, to help address them and we've got some great faculty brought into that area.
A portion of that department's concern is water and water-related issues. Whitson said that even if one doesn't have an agricultural background, access to adequate supplies of good, clean water affect us all.
"That's one we can certainly point to and people can relate to. We developed a water center that's addressing and helping us focus on water issues across the state as they impact agriculture. We know we can't address all the issues that are related to water but we know that agriculture is certainly a big user and the importance of how it's going to impact us."
Whitson said he was very grateful to benefactors such as T. Boone Pickens whose recent donations made possible the expansion of a lot of the division's programs.
"We've doubled our chairs and professorships. Scholarships have been big as people across the state know we have been very concerned about trying to make education particularly at Oklahoma State and our land grants affordable, accessible. So it's opened the door. We give a lot of scholarships out of our college of agriculture and natural resources now. Each year over a million dollars are given out in scholarships. And these are kids who need to be there, who need to be in school and getting ready to take their leadership positions across the state."
Whitson said one of the newly-endowed professorships is especially timely given the recent controversy between hog farmers and the Humane Society of the United States over the use of gestation crates.
"Professorships are important. We just hired a new person in animal behavior and animal welfare. It's an issue which is going to be important when you look across the things the animal activists across the state and across the country are working on. We better have our defense of that-and not always be defending that, but be out in front of it."
Whitson's division has, in many ways, run counter to other agricultural universities across the country. While other schools were cutting their ties with their extension programs, under Whitson, OSU has expanded and strengthened its commitment to its extension program.
"We view extension as such a high priority, particularly in our counties. They're the window on what we're learning in the land grant, and the heart of what makes our land grant system tick."
Whitson said that contact with the people in its service area has always been vital, and he was instrumental in bringing back the university's popular show SUNUP which airs each week on public television stations all across the state.
"It's timely. It's a way we can get more information out to people across the state and it has been very important to us. We knew we needed to, and I didn't realize, maybe, how important it was until we'd done it. And the feedback that we've gotten from it is really positive. It's a quick glimpse of what's going on and what we're doing."
Whitson said the division will continue on with several initiatives begun under his direction, most notably with additional content being provided to the university's new web TV venture.
Whitson said he expects to spend his retirement volunteering with various ag-related projects and enjoying famly that lives in San Antonio, Texas.
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to Ron Hays' full interview with Dr. Bob Whitson
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