Wallace's Farmer, IA
06-27-07
ISU Agronomy Professor Is New Wallace Chair
Compiled By Staff
An Iowa State University agronomy professor, Matt Liebman, will become
the new Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture on July 1. He will
serve a five-year term, which can be renewed for up to eight years.
Liebman joined ISU in 1998 as an associate professor in agronomy. He
succeeds former Wallace Chair Lorna Michael Butler who retired Feb. 1 from ISU
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.