Agronomy and Plant Genetics 1888-2000 - Department of Agronomy ...

Chapter 6
Foreword
As a member of the Department of Agronomy
and Plant Genetics, I have been privileged to share in the most recent
28 years of its history. With the advent of molecular genetics and its attendant
biotechnologies, genomics, miniaturized computers and instant electronic
communications – to mention a few changes, these past years have
been exciting, interesting and rewarding for the department. By reading
Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota, however,
one also gains a profound sense of respect and appreciation for the
complexity of the challenges faced by faculty, staff and students and the
enormous progress they made during our early history.
This book is intended to portray the course of agronomy and plant
genetics from its formative stages in the late 19th century on through the
beginning of the 21st century. In many ways, the primary strands contributing
to the current fabric of the department can be traced to these
early times in this 100-plus-year period.
From the start, the education of students and Minnesota citizens has
been the primary guiding principle for agronomy and plant genetics.
Education in agronomy and plant genetics, as part of a land-grant institution,
is a process based on discovery of new knowledge through research
and scholarly inquiry. The genesis of ideas, their testing, refining, and
developing through research, and the delivery of a tangible good, such as
new information for teaching and outreach or a new crop variety or management
practice, are all part of this fabric.
One of the chapters herein contains a listing of buildings and facilities
that have been or are part of agronomy and plant genetics. No doubt these
facilities have had an essential role, but the key ingredient in shaping
agronomy and plant genetics has been the people. The efforts of many
persons associated with the department have had lasting ripple effects