October 3, 2005

Father of Purdue Agriculture continues to help students

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Proceeds from a new book by two Purdue University Extension specialists will benefit College of Agriculture students.

Fred Whitford, coordinator of Purdue's Pesticide Programs, and Andrew Martin, a pesticide program specialist, wrote "The Grand Old Man of Purdue University and Indiana Agriculture" in tribute to William Carroll Latta.

"The Grand Old Man" is a biography that tracks Latta's professional, personal and volunteer work. He is recognized as the father of the College of Agriculture at Purdue where he became the second-ever professor of agriculture in 1882. In his 54 years at Purdue, Latta started the four-year undergraduate program and founded the Farmer's Institutes, the precursors of Purdue Extension, and wrote most of Purdue's earliest agriculture research publications.

Proceeds from books sales will fund an annual scholarship for one Purdue Agriculture student. The scholarship will be based on academics and community service, two of Latta's premier attributes. The book is for sale through the Purdue University Press for $29.95.

"Approximately 5 million Indiana farmers were trained through Latta's outreach programs," said Whitford. "He worked hard to get science-based ag techniques to the farmers who needed them."

Latta also initiated on-farm research and offered winter short courses for farmers who couldn't attend the university's two- or four-year programs.

While his research dealt with corn, wheat and oats, Whitford said, Latta's lessons still can be applied to Purdue Extension as a whole.

"We found that what we do today is still guided by the same philosophy he used back then," Whitford said. "And that is that Indiana citizens' interests are our interests."

To purchase a copy of "The Grand Old Man of Purdue and Indiana Agriculture," go online or call (800) 247-6553. The book also is available through online book retailers.

"Not only will this biography help students but it will be of interest to farmers and every member of the agricultural community," Whitford said.

Writer: Kay Hagen, (765) 494-6682, kjh@purdue.edu

Source: Fred Whitford, (765) 494- 1284, fwhitford@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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