Agricultural News
Three Oklahomans Honored Positive Effects on OSU and Oklahoma
Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:37:48 CDT
Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources has honored three Oklahomans with one of the organization's highest honors, the DASNR Champion award.
Dave McLaughlin and Linda Shackelford of Oklahoma City, and Osage County's Bob Hamilton, have been selected as the 2013 award recipients.
"Our three honorees have exceptional records of providing meaningful and lasting benefits to Oklahoma and the region as part of the state's production, processing and related agricultural industries, in addition to being outstanding leaders in their communities," said Mike Woods, DASNR interim vice president, dean and director.
McLaughlin had worked for the George A. Hormel Company for more than a decade when he left to start his own business with fellow Hormel executive Paul Allen in 1973. Together, they launched Advance Food Company out of Enid, with the business focusing on meeting food service client needs and the processing and delivery of center-of-the-plate protein foods for the Oklahoma City marketplace.
Advance Foods expanded greatly over the years, achieving more than $750 million in sales annually with a national and international distribution. In recent years, Advance Foods combined with Pierre Foods, a partnership with sales revenues exceeding $1 billion and possessing an extensive international distribution network.
McLaughlin was named to the first Industry Advisory Committee of the division's Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center and continues to provide valuable input and insights as a committee member. McLaughlin and Advance Food Company funded the division's Advance Food Company/S.E. Gilliland Professorship in Microbial Food Safety, in addition to a number of scholarships in the department of animal science.
"Dave has been a visionary leader for us, always asking pointed questions and donating freely of his time and talents; he has greatly assisted the FAPC in providing the best possible service for our clients and stakeholders across the state, with a particular emphasis on programs that provide food safety assistance to Oklahoma's food industry," said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director.
Shackelford was the founding co-owner of TLC Florist and Greenhouses Inc., recognized by the gardening industry as one the top 100 garden centers in the United States and the subject of feature stories in several national magazines. Starting in 1980, she grew the business to more than 150,000 square feet of greenhouse and more than 10 acres of trees, shrubs and vines.
"Linda bleeds orange," said Dale Maronek, head of the division's department of horticulture and landscape architecture. "She has long offered her time and expertise to OSU's Stillwater and Oklahoma City campuses, provided financial and in-kind resources, and been active in the Oklahoma FFA Foundation."
For more than 20 years, Shackelford was an underwriter for the division's nationally renowned "Oklahoma Gardening" television program, now in its 39th season on the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA). She has been actively involved in an advisory fundraising capacity for many scholarships that benefit deserving OSU agricultural and natural resource students, and - along with Charles Shackelford - funded an endowed horticulture professorship in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
"Linda Shackelford has provided exemplary leadership in helping to facilitate and champion research, teaching and technology transfer at and through OSU, for the benefit of Oklahomans statewide," Maronek said.
A native of Wellington, Kan., Hamilton joined The Nature Conservancy in 1982 as manager of the TNC Cross Ranch Preserve, a position he held for six years. In 1988, the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve was initiated in Osage County. Hamilton has served as the prairie preserve's manager and science director since its inception.
OSU Sarkeys Distinguished Professor in Rangeland Ecology and Management Sam Fuhlendorf said Hamilton views DASNR as his primary collaborating partner, especially when it comes to developing management approaches capable of enhancing production and wildlife habitat simultaneously.
"Many people across the country assume Bob is an OSU faculty member because of his continued support for and close integration with our rangeland research and management programs," Fuhlendorf said. "He frequently promotes the value of DASNR research and collaboration with the university, helping to bring national recognition to OSU through The Nature Conservancy."
Hamilton is a leader in Osage County's ranching community, and has long spearheaded efforts to promote and expand rangeland conservation practices, with particular emphases given to control of the invasive plant species Sericea lespedeza and working with Oklahoma's oil and gas industries to foster environmental stewardship while also providing for continued energy development.
"All three honorees have been cooperating partners with our faculty, educators and staff, giving of themselves to enhance DASNR programs that are a vital part of the university's land-grant mission," Woods said. "We've always been blessed with many great supporters across Oklahoma. The annual presentation of the DASNR Champion award is one way by which we honor their commitment."
DASNR is comprised of the college of the same name and two state agencies: The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, with offices in all 77 counties, and the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station system, with research facilities situated across the state to enable key scientific studies to be performed under local conditions.
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