Agricultural News
OSU President Dr. Shrum Advocates for Agriculture at the Sweet Success Celebration for the New Frontiers Ag Hall
Thu, 28 Jul 2022 12:16:44 CDT
Farm Director, KC Sheperd, had the chance to visit with Oklahoma State University President, Dr. Kayse Shrum at the Sweet Success Celebration for the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall at OSU. Shrum talks about the goal of the New Frontiers Campaign and what the 50-million-dollar milestone that was surpassed means for OSU.
“We are very excited to announce that the New Frontiers campaign reached the 50-million-dollar mark, and it is an exciting time for agriculture for Oklahoma State University,” Shrum said. “Agriculture has always been a fundamental piece of the university and it really says a lot to how much the OSU family supports and invests in OSU agriculture as an important part of our university from the historical perspective and going through the future and where we are headed with really even the name- New Frontiers.”
The new building that will house the Ferguson College of Agriculture and other facilities sets a tone for the university, Shrum said, because it gives us the opportunity to attract the best and the brightest. State-of-the-art facilities, Shrum added, attract those that might not otherwise think about Oklahoma State.
“We want to be leaders, and to be leaders you need to have facilities that allow you to do the research you need to be innovative and to give our students a world-class experience right here at Oklahoma State,” Shrum said. “I always say the best part of Oklahoma State University is our people, which means our alumni and our students and faculty. That means from the culture, but also from the impact that we have on society.”
Oklahoma State University exists as a land grant, Shrum said, so that means a part of that involves making good communities great through the work at the university which is focused on solving societies’ most pressing needs.
Shrum said the construction for the new Ag Hall building has made good progress so far.
“It has really started to come up,” Shrum said. “You can see pieces of concrete coming out of the ground and steel, and it is going to be an exciting process. This is the road I drive down every morning to go to the office from home and so just being able to look at it when I drive in, I am excited to see the continued progress on that building until we can have a topping-off ceremony.”
At OSU, Shrum said agriculture is one of the key areas of impact.
“We have a great deal of expertise and history to build upon into the future, but also when we think about those key areas, in choosing those, I wanted to choose areas that would have an impact on society,” Shrum said. “Our goal is to feed the world. In order to do that, we have to have a strong agriculture program.”
Although she comes from a medical background, Shrum said she grew up in a rural area and has a family that farms and ranches, so she understands how agriculture is important in so many different areas.
“When we picked our areas of importance, we also wanted to make sure that those areas are interacting with one another,” Shrum said. “The Hamm institute for American Energy was announced and part of the reason that gift came to us was because of our strong agriculture presence. When you think about renewable energy and those kinds of things, agriculture and energy go hand in hand.”
Shrum said agriculture is prominent in our future. Those in the agriculture industry do important work, Shrum said, and they face various challenges every day.
“In the work we do, we want to make sure we are solving problems that they have and making their lives easier,” Shrum said.
Oklahoma State University has a great history with extension, Shrum said, and is great at hearing what is going on in the front lines and bringing that back and helping to guide and direct research.
“We want to make sure we have another generation of students we are educating that can continue the great success that we have had,” Shrum said.
Click the LISTEN BAR below to hear more from KC Sheperd and Dr. Shrum talking about what makes agriculture in an integral part of OSU.
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