[ outstan d ing agriculturalists ]
[ d istinguishe d alumni ]
Glenn Schur
Mr. Glenn Schur received his
Bachelor of Science degree in
Agricultural Economics in 1980.
Mr. Schur owns and operates
Glenn Schur Farms in Plainview,
TX. He serves on many committees and boards
throughout his community. These include the
Texas Grain Sorghum Association Board, United
Farm Industries Board, Texas Alliance for Water
Conservation Board, Hale County Stock Show
Board and the National Sorghum Producers Legislative Working Committee to name a few.
Mr. Schur is also a certified instructor for the
4-H Shooting Sports and also serves on the St.
Paul Lutheran Church Board as President. Mr.
Schur has been a Board member of the Panhandle Parade of Breeds for the past 25 years. He
has also been on the ACS Cotton Ball Committee
for the past 12 years.
Marvin J. Cepica
Dr. Marvin J. Cepica received
a Bachelor of Science degree in
Agricultural Education in 1966
he went on to receive a Master of
Science degree from Texas Tech
in 1967. In 1977 he completed his doctoral degree from Oklahoma State University.
Dr. Cepica retired as Dean of the College of
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at
Texas Tech University in August of 2007. Prior
to his appointment for Dean he served as Executive Associate Dean, Associate Dean, Director of
Academic and Student Affairs, Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor over a span
of 30 years for Texas Tech University. He also
taught Vocational Agriculture at Graham, Texas
and Dimmitt, Texas for eight years.
Dr. Cepica has received more awards and honors than can be named. A few to mention are
Lifetime Achievement Award from AASCARR,
Award of Distinction from NASULGC and Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Vocational Agriculture Teachers association as well as
from Texas FFA.
William M. Lyle
Dr. William M. Lyle received
a Bachelor of Science degree
in Agricultural Engineering in
1962. He later received a Master
of Science degree in Agricultural
Engineering and a Doctorate Degree from Texas
A&M University in 1964 and 1970 respectively.
Dr. Lyle holds the title of Professor Emeritus at
Texas A&M University and has been the Senior
[
36 ] Landmarks 2008
Scientist at the Office of International Agriculture at Texas A&M University since 2006. Prior to
that Dr. Lyle was Professor for the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center in Lubbock, Texas.
Another notable achievement in Dr. Lyle’s career includes developing a prototype of the LEPA
sprinkler system in 1976.
Among many outstanding achievements Dr.
Lyle has received are Outstanding Professor
in Agricultural Engineering, ASAE John Deere
Gold Medal Award and Chemigation Division
of the Irrigation Association Industry Achievement Award.
Mr. Keith R. Hansen
Mr. Keith R. Hansen received
his Master of Science Degree in
Meat Science from Texas Tech
in 1968. Prior to this he received
his Bachelor of Science Degree
from New Mexico State University in 1966.
Mr. Hansen currently serves as Vice President
of X.F. Enterprises, Inc. He has served as Consulting Nutritionist with Nutrition Service Associates
in Hereford, Texas since 1977. His clientele consists of cattle feedyards feeding a combined one
time capacity of more than 550,000 head. Many
of these clients have been customers for more
than 20 years.
He has also formulated diets for Merrick pet
food company and supervised their research kennel since 1986.
Among many achievements Mr. Hansen has
served on the industry advisory committee for
Elanco Animal Health, a division of Lily Pharmaceuticals, for 22 years.
He holds the charter designation of Professional Animal Scientist from the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists and is completing a term as Chairman of the Research and
Knowledge Management Group of the National
Cattleman’s Beef Association.
Sean D. Davis
Mr. Sean D. Davis received a
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture in 1986. He later received
a Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore, School of
Law in 1994.
Mr. Davis serves as a Principal with Morris &
Ritchie associates, Inc. Prior to this he served as
Principal with LDR International.
Mr. Davis has professional affiliations with the
Maryland Economic Growth, Resource Protection
and Planning Commission, the Chesapeake Bay
Executive Council and the Urban Land Institute.
He has experience working in urban redevelopment, golf course communities and mixed-use
communities throughout the United States and
even abroad.
Carter Smith
Carter Smith received his
Bachelor of Science degree in
Wildlife Management in 1993.
He went on to receive a Master
of Science degree from Yale University majoring in conservation biology.
Mr. Smith became the executive director of
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in January 2008. Prior to coming to the Department,
he was the Texas state director of The Nature
Conservancy, where he worked for over 8 years.
Before working at the Nature Conservancy, he
was the first executive director of the Katy Prairie
Conservancy and continues to serve on their Advisory Board. Mr. Smith began his professional
career as a management intern for the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department in 1993.
Mr. Smith has served on numerous science,
conservation, land trust and advisory councils. He has served on advisory boards for Texas
A&M University, Texas Tech University, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, and the Texas Land
Trust Council among others.
Jerry M. Bigham
Dr. Jerry M. Bigham received
his Bachelor of Science degree
in 1971 majoring in Agronomy.
He continued his education in
1973 with a Master of Science
in Soil Science from Texas Tech University. Then
he went on to complete a doctoral degree in Soil
Science with a Minor in Materials Engineering
from North Carolina State University in 1977.
Dr. Bigham serves as Director of the School of
Environment and Natural Resources at the Ohio
State University. He also serves as Professor of
Soil Science and has been in this position since
1992. Prior to that, he held the title of Research
Coordinator for the School of Natural Resources.
He also had the opportunity to be named Humboldt Scholar and Visiting Associate Professor for
Lehrstuhl fur Bodenkunde in Freising-Weihenstephan, German from 1988 to 1989.
Dr. Bigham has been recognized with the
Pomerene Teaching Award, a Team Research
Award, the Jackson Mid-Career Award and was
named a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of
America just to name a few of the outstanding
achievements in his career.
Kenneth R. Bell
William F. Bennett
Mark Williams
Kenneth R. Bell graduated from Texas Tech
with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics with a business emphasis. He served in
the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and was
honorably discharged in 1968 whereupon he
returned to Texas Tech to complete his degree
work and graduated in 1971.
Upon graduation, he became an appraiser for
the General Land Office of Texas and appraised
ranch properties from 1971-1973. In 1973, he
worked as a commodities broker for Ross Perot’s
Dupont-Walston in Dallas and, after one year,
was hired by Frost National Bank of San Antonio to become an Officer in the Farm & Ranch
division of the Trust Department. He served as
a Vice-President & Trust Officer with Frost Bank
from 1974-1981. In 1981, he purchased Quick
Line Service Company and continues as owner
and President of that company today.
Mr. Bell is a member and serves as a committeeman on the Texas & Southwestern Cattle
Raiser’s Wildlife Committee. He serves as a Director and Life Member for the Texas Wildlife Association and is a Director and Life Member for
the San Antonio Livestock Exposition since 1977
and is a committeeman on its Scholarship Committee as well as a past-chairman; a member of
the National Ranching Heritage Association, and
the Davis Mountains Trans-Pecos Heritage Association. He is a Director of the Board of Trustees for the 4-H Foundation of the State of Texas.
He is a past Director and Senior Member of the
Wurstfest Association of New Braunfels and an
Advisory Director for Outdoor Texas Camp in Columbus, Texas. Additionally, Mr. Bell has held a
Texas Real Estate broker’s license since 1977.
Mr. Bell lives in New Braunfels with his wife,
Susan. They have been married 39 years and
have 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren. Mr.
& Mrs. Bell attend and are members of the New
Braunfels Presbyterian Church. He is an Elder
and a member of the Church Session.
Dr. William F. Bennett joined the Texas Tech
University faculty in 1968 and served until his
retirement in 1997. He taught in the Department
of Plant and Soil Science during his tenure. In
1970, he became an Assistant Dean for the College with duties primarily for academic and student programs. In 1984, he became the Director
of Development.
Dr. Bennett graduated from Oklahoma State
University in 1950 and received his master’s and
doctoral degrees from Iowa State University by
1958. His professional career began at Texas
A&M University where he served as the Extension Soil Chemist. His next calling was with industry, Western Ammonia Corporation in Dimmitt. He considers it a hand of fate that he had
a call from TTU in 1968 to consider joining the
faculty. It was an easy affirmative.
In the Department, he taught courses in
Agronomy and Soil Science, with his specialty
being Soil Fertility. In the Dean’s Office, his principal duties were for academic programs and
student affairs. Two of his proudest accomplishments were the initiation of two student groups
- the Ambassadors for Agriculture and the AgriTechsans in 1974. They are still active today.
In 1984, Dr. Bennett became the College’s
Director of Development. From an initial gift of
$10,000 in 1974, the College’s endowment was
close to $10,000,000 and was the largest college
endowment on campus when he retired in 1997.
He was active in numerous professional, industry and civic organizations. Numerous scientific publications are to his credit and he has authored or co-authored 9 books.
Dr. Bennett has 3 children and 8 grandchildren. He proudly points out that his 3 children
and his 3 oldest grandchildren are Texas Tech
alumni while his fourth oldest is a US Marine.
Mark Williams graduated from Texas Tech
University with a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics with honors in 1974.
Mr. Williams currently serves on board positions with Plains Cotton Cooperative Association,
Farmer’s Cooperative Compress, and the Cotton Board. He is also an advisor to Cotton Council International’s Executive Committee. He has
served as Past President of several organizations
including Parmer County Farm Bureau, Plains
Cotton Growers and Southwest Council of Agribusiness. Mr. Williams has also served as past
chairman of American Cotton Producers and
past board member of the National Cotton Council. He has served as a board secretary of Parmer
County Cotton Growers.
Mr. Williams married Joyce in 1973. They
have three sons; Ryan Williams and wife, Annie;
Reagan Williams; and Russell Williams. They
also have two grandchildren, Erica Grace and
Walker Bert. Mr. Williams’ is the son of Bert and
LaMoin Williams of Farwell.
Agribusiness
Public Service
Agricultural Production
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