Contact: Ron Del Vecchio, head, Ag Department, 218-281-8109 (delve004@umn.edu), Elizabeth Tollefson, assistant director of communications, 218-281-8432 (ltollefs@umn.edu)

Crookston, Minn. (August 28, 2008) – Exceptional new talent has been added to the faculty at the University of Minnesota, Crookston this fall. There has not been an infusion of new faculty and staff on the Crookston campus this significant since the early days of forming the technical college in the mid to late 1960s. The Agriculture Department is the latest to announce the hiring of three new faculty members. They are Margot Rudstrom, Ph.D., in agricultural business and economics; Henry Wilson in soil science; and ADawn Melbye in equine science. They will join Chuck Lariviere, M.B.A., and Terrill Bradford, M.Ed. who also have new positions in the department. Through teaching, applied research and collaborative outreach interactions with industry, the Agriculture Department works to train future leaders in agriculture and to enhance the economy, the environment and society. The department is headed by Ron Del Vecchio, Ph.D. and programs include agricultural business, agricultural education, agricultural systems management, agronomy, animal science and equine science. Margot Rudstrom Margot Rudstrom, Ph.D., will be focusing her teaching efforts in agricultural business and economics when she joins the faculty at the Crookston campus this fall. Most recently, Rudstrom served as an associate extension educator with University of Minnesota Extension at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris. Prior to her work with the West Central Research and Outreach Center in 1998, she was an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management. Her areas of research interest include dairy risk management milk marketing, low input dairy systems, economics of compost barns and strategic planning. She holds a doctorate from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., in agricultural economics and her master’s degree in the same field of study is from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She earned her bachelor of science also in agricultural economics from Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada. Henry Wilson Henry Wilson, M.S., is the new assistant professor in soil science at the Crookston campus. Wilson will instruct students in the areas of soil science, soil fertility and crop production. Along with these responsibilities, wilson will also assist in efforts to improve the competitiveness, profitability and sustainability of regional agricultural/agronomic business. He will begin his work at the U of M, Crookston in November. Wilson is currently completing his doctorate of philosophy degree from Iowa State University in Ames in environmental science. His master’s degree, also from Iowa State, is in soil science. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural science from Western Illinois University in Moline. ADawn Melbye, M.Ed., a 1997 graduate of the University of Minnesota, Crookston, will be joining the campus in fall 2008 as a member of the faculty instructing in the equine science program. Melbye was most recently an agricultural education teacher at Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, Minn. ADawn Melbye Melbye was a double major in equine industries management and animal industries management at the U of M, Crookston. She went on to complete her master’s degree in agricultural education at the University of Minnesota in 2003. She received the Outstanding Alumni award in 2004. William Smith Another new instructor in agriculture is William “Bill” Smith, M.S., who graduated with a master of science in agronomy from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. His research focused on crop rotation and the sequence influence on soil manganese availability. Smith presented his research data at the Soil Science Society of America annual meetings in 2004 and 2005 as well as at the Clay Mineral Society’s 42nd annual meeting in 2005. He earned his bachelor of science in agricultural education from Willmington College of Ohio. Most recently he worked as a soil conservation technician in Fort Benning, Ga. Smith will also teach a soil and water conservation class in the Natural Resources Department. Terrill Bradford Chuck Lariviere Also joining the Ag Department is Terrill Bradford, M.Ed., who has been hired as an instructor of animal science; she previously worked as a teaching specialist for the Agriculture Department on the Crookston campus. Charles Lariviere, M.B.A., also has been hired as an instructor of agricultural business; he previously worked as a teaching specialist for the Business Department on campus. For more information on agriculture at the Crookston campus, visit www.UMCrookston.edu/academics. Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers more than 25 applied-science undergraduate degree programs and 50 concentrations, including several online degrees, in agriculture; arts, humanities and social sciences; business; math, science and technology; and natural resources. To learn more, visit www.UMCrookston.edu.