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From the Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences

As I reflect on the decades since the Morrill Land-Grant College Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, I have a renewed respect for our nation’s land-grant university system.

When the land-grant colleges opened their doors, they revolutionized higher education in America, making it possible for average citizens to get a practical education that would improve lives and livelihoods — while creating a workforce to help build a great nation. What makes the land-grant system even greater is the collaboration with experiment station research (Hatch Act of 1887) and the connection to the people through cooperative extension (Smith-Lever Act of 1914), which brought education and research to local communities.

In Texas, we take the land-grant system one step further with the addition of our service missions: to protect our forests and animal and human health. When the Texas A&M Forest Service was created in 1915, the state’s vast forest resources came under the protection of the land-grant system. In 1969, with the opening of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, The Texas A&M University System became a partner in the protection of animal health and the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases.

Texas A&M AgriLife has carried out the land-grant university mission of teaching, research, extension, and service for more than a century, moving seamlessly within the land-grant design as our nation’s history unfolded. We have grown with each decade, increasing our educational opportunities and student numbers, expanding our research to new horizons, broadening our outreach at home and around the world, and offering new levels of service to the many who depend on us.

Each day I am inspired to know that the revolutionary creation of the land-grant mission in 1862 is just as relevant now as it was 150 years ago. Today, all of us at Texas A&M AgriLife are protecting our environment, enriching our youth, feeding our world, growing our economy, and improving our health. The methods are more advanced, but the model is the same: education and enlightenment by and for the people.

In 2012, we joined other land-grant colleges and universities throughout the United States in celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act of 1862. The success, innovation, and prosperity chronicled in these pages are both a testament to the wisdom of the land-grant system and a challenge to continue our mission. This book is as much an acknowledgment of the Morrill Act sesquicentennial as it is a salute to the history of Texas A&M AgriLife — and a prelude to its future.

Mark A. HusseyVice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life SciencesTexas A&M AgriLifeThe Texas A&M University System

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The Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System Richard A. Box, ChairmanPhil Adams, Vice ChairmanMorris E. Foster Elaine MendozaJudy MorganJim SchwertnerCliff ThomasJohn D. White James P. WilsonQuinten Womack, Student Regent

The Texas A&M University SystemJohn Sharp, Chancellor

Texas A&M UniversityR. Bowen Loftin, President

Texas A&M AgriLife AdministrationMark A. Hussey, Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life SciencesLarry Boleman, Associate Vice Chancellor William Dugas, Associate Vice Chancellor

Agency DirectorsTammy Beckham, Director, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory Tom Boggus, Director, Texas A&M Forest Service Craig Nessler, Director, Texas A&M AgriLife ResearchDouglas Steele, Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Centennial Committee Members Cady Auckerman, Office of the Vice Chancellor and DeanMonica Delisa, Texas A&M FoundationMacy Eaves, Student, College of Agriculture and Life SciencesPatricia Gerling, Office of the Vice Chancellor and Dean Margaret Hale, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension ServiceDanielle Harris, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Jimmy Keeton, Department of Nutrition and Food ScienceAnn Kenimer, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Max Malloy, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications Charlene Meyerdirk, Texas A&M AgriLife Nancye Penn, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Steve Schulze, Texas A&M AgriLife McKenzie Watkins, Student, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

AcknowledgmentsThis project began as part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Centennial Celebration and quickly grew to encompass all parts of Texas’s great land-grant system and legacy. Thank you to all of the administration of Texas A&M AgriLife (at left) for their support of the project, particularly Dr. Mark Hussey, Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Dr. Edward Smith, Director Emeritus, Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

To tell a story as big as the Lone Star State took numerous contributors, particularly Dr. Margaret Hale, Steve Schulze, and Cady Auckerman, who conceptualized and championed the project. Jon Mondrik and Ann Shurgin from Texas A&M AgriLife Communications spearheaded the effort and truly made the accomplishments of 150 years come to life. Many thanks also to Dr. Henry Dethloff for his foreword and original research.

Our thanks to the Heritage Subcommittee members who provided original input for the book: Dr. Ernie Davis, Johnny Fazzino, Dr. Chester Fehlis, Dr. Ed Hiler, Patricia Gerling, Dr. Jennie Kitching, Ken Livingston, Dr. Jarvis Miller, Jon Mondrik, and Dr. Ellen Ritter.

Our sincerest thanks to the many others who provided resources, milestones, stories, interviews, photos, and reviews, including Dr. Larry Boleman, Kyle Smith, Dr. William Dugas, and Melissa Hussey; Dr. Dan Pfannstiel, Director Emeritus, Texas Agricultural Extension Service; Dr. Neville Clarke, Director Emeritus, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station; Dr. Toby Lepley, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service; Dr. Carl Anderson, Professor and Extension Specialist Emeritus; Bruce R. Miles, Director Emeritus, Texas Forest Service; Dr. Robert D. Baker, Professor Emeritus, Forestry, Texas A&M University; Dr. Konrad Eugster, Executive Director Emeritus, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory; Dr. C. Allen Jones, Professor, Soil and Crop Sciences; Linda Moon and staff at the Texas A&M Forest Service; Stacy Morris of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory; John Chivvis and Alan Kurk of Texas A&M AgriLife Communications; Phyllis Earles, University Archivist, John B. Coleman Library, Prairie View A&M University; and everyone in the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences departments and at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Centers who provided resources.

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Contributing research and writing: Dr. Henry C. Dethloff, Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M UniversityResearch, compilation, writing, and editing: Ann Shurgin, Texas A&M AgriLife CommunicationsLayout and design: Jon Mondrik, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

Unless otherwise credited, all photos are courtesy of the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M University; Texas A&M AgriLife Communications; Texas A&M AgriLife Research; Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service; Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory; Texas A&M Forest Service; and the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

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