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CORVALLIS - Excellence in research, teaching, advising and Extension was honored recently by the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences during its annual recognition program.

The awards were made possible in part by donations to the E.R. Jackman Foundation and the Agricultural Research Foundation.

Richard Lee Cole, professor and head of the Agricultural Education and General Agricultural Department, received the $1,100 R.M. Wade Award for Excellence in Teaching. Cole, who has been at OSU since 1977, was recognized for his accomplishments in preparing the next generation of agricultural science and technology teachers. He is also lead adviser for the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences.

Mary Powelson, professor of botany and plant pathology, will be added to the college's Registry of Distinguished Teachers.

Martin Fitzpatrick, an associate professor of fisheries and wildlife, received the $1,000 Savery Outstanding Young Faculty Award. Fitzpatrick was cited for the excellence of his teaching as well as for his research on fish reproduction.

Patrick Hayes, professor of crop and soil science, received the $1,000 F.E. Price Agricultural Research Foundation Award for Excellence in Research. A member of the OSU faculty since 1986, Hayes has developed one of the premier cereal breeding and genetics programs in the world. In addition, he played key leadership and scientific roles in the North American Barley Genome Mapping Project.

Gale Gingrich, a Salem resident and OSU Extension agent in Marion, Clackamas and Polk counties, received the $1,000 College of Agricultural Sciences Excellence in Extension Award. Gingrich was cited for work in educational programs that provide commercial growers and agri-business representatives with research results that improve their ability to grow and market field crops - grass and legume seeds, cereal grains, alfalfa, mint and hops.

Robert Spotts, a Hood River resident and professor of botany and plant pathology at OSU's Mid-Columbia Research and Extension Center in Hood River, received the $1,000 Briskey Award for Faculty Excellence. He was cited for his research on diseases of tree fruits, which has led to the development of environmentally friendly practices that delay the development of chemical resistance in disease organisms and reduce grower costs.

Two employees received College of Agricultural Sciences $500 Classified Employee Awards. Blaine Baker, a Philomath resident and photographer and biological research technician in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, was cited in particular for supervision of a $1.5 million renovation project for three departments housed in Cordley Hall. Karen Morrow, a Pendleton resident and biological technician at OSU's Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center at Pendleton, was recognized for coordinating the club wheat and cereal variety testing programs at the center.

The Barley Stripe Rust Resistance Team, a group of researchers from OSU, Mexico, the Klamath Falls Branch of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the Oregon Grains Commission, received the $3,000 James and Mildred Oldfield - E.R. Jackman Team Award recognizing team and interdisciplinary work. The team prevented significant yield losses for Pacific Northwest barley growers by developing four barley varieties that are resistant to barley stripe rust. In addition, the team developed chemical control measures to complement the resistant varieties.

Teams members are Patrick Hayes and Russ Karow in the Department of Crop and Soil Science; Chris Mundt, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology; Rodney Todd, a Klamath Falls resident and OSU Extension agent; Randy Dovel, a Keno resident and researcher at the Klamath Experiment Station; Tammy Matney, a Vancouver, Washington resident and administrator at the Oregon Grains Commission; and Hugo Vivar of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.