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CORVALLIS - Family, friends, students and co-workers have joined together to create a garden to remember Sheldon Ladd, head of Oregon State University's Department of Crop and Soil Science, who died unexpectedly on July 31, 2000, at the age of 58.

A dedication ceremony to will be held on Thursday, June 6, at 2:30 p.m. at the garden site near the north entrance of the Crop Science building along Campus Way. All are welcome to attend.

"Sheldon Ladd is remembered with great fondness throughout OSU and the agriculture community," said Russ Karow, who took over as head of Crop and Soil Science after Ladd died. "In many ways, the garden brings together all the groups that were a part of his life."

Ladd was a plant geneticist, whose influential research ranged from sugarcane pathology in Hawaii to barley breeding in Colorado. Ladd came to OSU in 1985 as head of Crop Science. Under his leadership, the department merged with Soil Science in 1990 and grew into one of the largest units at OSU, with faculty both on campus and across the state.

Not only an influential scientist and administrator, Ladd was a favorite among his students. Members of OSU's Crops Club provided much of the labor and money to construct the Sheldon L. Ladd Memorial Garden.

Students designed the garden and did much of the construction, with the help of Ann Marie VanDerZanden, professor of horticulture at OSU. In addition, friends of Ladd's in the agriculture industry donated funds and plant materials and many of his OSU colleagues dipped shovels throughout the spring to prepare the ground for planting.

The result is more than a beautiful memorial. As part of a bustling campus, the garden was built to be used. Beds of ornamental grasses and shrubs curve around benches and a picnic table to create a comfortable place for people to meet and relax. OSU Landscape Maintenance coordinator, Norm Brown, added details to make the garden hold up to heavy use.

Ladd's colleagues worked closely with his widow, Carol Ladd, to design a garden that he would have enjoyed. Two rose bushes, a favorite of Ladd's, bloom next to a granite boulder marking the dedication.

The dedication ceremony will include a few words from some of Ladd's many friends. In addition, the OSU foundation has established an endowment fund in Ladd's memory. Proceeds will be used for scholarships to support student work in the Department of Crop and Soil Science.