New dean takes the reins

College of Agriculture Dean Karen Plaut with Shelby Cummings

New dean takes the reins Few children receive birthday gifts they remember as adults, much less ones that forecast their future life’s work. But Karen Plaut remembers her 11th birthday gift like it was yesterday, and it was certainly nothing short of prophetic. “I loved science so much as a kid that I wanted a…

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Remembering the life and legacy of Virginia Ferris

Remembering the life and legacy of Virginia Ferris The College of Agriculture mourns the loss of Professor of Nematology Virginia Ferris, who passed away on August 14. “In her more than 50 years in the Department of Entomology, she was one of the world’s leading experts on the soybean cyst nematode, a destructive plant parasite…

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