Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture - Educator selected for 2005 Spencer Award

The Leopold Center will present one of the state’s largest awards in sustainable agriculture to an Iowa State University professor who has been a role model for leaders in sustainable agriculture at universities throughout the nation.

Jerry DeWitt will receive the Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture during the 2005 Iowa Organic conference in Ames on November 14. DeWitt is the fourth recipient of the annual award and the first non-farmer to be honored.

The Spencer Award recognizes farmers, researchers and educators who have made a significant contribution toward the stability of mainstream family farms in Iowa. The award is named for Norman A. and Margaretha Spencer who farmed near Sioux City for 40 years and includes $1,000 from the Spencer family.

An entomologist, DeWitt has been employed by ISU Extension for 33 years, about half that time as an administrator. In 1995, he played a key role working with the College of Agriculture to establish the first faculty position dedicated to organic agriculture among the nation’s land grant universities. Three times during the past 10 years, he has been interim director of the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension (SARE) program. He now coordinates ISU Extension’s sustainable agriculture activities. In addition, DeWitt was a member of the Leopold Center Advisory Board from 1987 to 1997.

DeWitt also is an accomplished photographer and has visited many farms throughout Iowa, nationally and internationally. His photographs have been published in two books: People Sustaining the Land (Vagnetti and DeWitt, 2002) and Renewing the Countryside-Iowa, a 2003 project supported by the Leopold Center.

Francis Thicke, who operates an organic dairy farm and milk processing plant near Fairfield, nominated DeWitt for the award. “I have known Jerry for over 15 years and consider him to be the personification of sustainable agriculture in Iowa,” he wrote. “He is a joy to work with and a constant inspiration.”

Wendy Wintersteen, interim dean for the College of Agriculture, said she could think of no other faculty member at ISU more deserving of the award. “As a result of Jerry’s vision, the College of Agriculture now has one of the strongest sustainable agricultural research, teaching and extension programs in the nation,” she wrote in a letter of support. “His leadership has made a difference in the opportunities available to family farmers.”

The award presentation will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Scheman Building at the ISU Center. The public is invited to attend, but must register for the conference if they want lunch. For more information about the conference, contact Julie Kieffer at (515) 294-4202, kiefferj@iastate.edu.