High Plains Journal, KS
07-12-07
Agronomy professor named Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable
Iowa
Matt Liebman, Iowa State University agronomy professor, will become the
new Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture July 1.
Liebman will serve a five-year term, which can be renewed for up to eight years.
He joined Iowa State in 1998 as an associate professor in agronomy.
He succeeds former Wallace Chair Lorna Michael Butler who retired Feb. 1 from
Iowa State after seven years in the position.
Liebman earned a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Harvard
University in 1978 and a doctorate degree in botany from the University of
California at Berkeley in 1986.
He serves as chair of the interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sustainable
Agriculture and held the Pioneer Hi-Bred Agronomy Professorship from 2001 to
2004. His research focuses on cropping system diversification, soil amendments
and weed ecology and management.
The Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture was
established in 1997 to promote the philosophical and practical ideas of Henry A.
Wallace, a former U.S. secretary of agriculture and U.S. vice president. The chair
honors Wallace's commitment to the wise use of science and public policy to
protect natural resources and farmland, enhance vibrant and enduring rural
communities and alleviate global poverty and hunger.
The Wallace Chair provides leadership for the collaborative development and
implementation of major educational and research programs on the sustainability
of current and future agricultural practices.