At CALS, we have the good fortune to be able to offer a number of college and departmental professorships and chairships. These titles, with accompanying funding, are a way to acknowledge faculty members for doing outstanding work, while encouraging and inspiring excellence across the college.

This academic year, four CALS faculty members were selected to receive department professorships or chairships. They will be honored during an investiture ceremony in February 2025. (Details of the event will be announced in a future eCALS post.) The recipients are listed below.

Jingyi Huang, associate professor in the Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, has been appointed to the Marvin T. Beatty Professorship in Soil Science, which provides salary and research support for five years. This professorship was established in 2018 by Marvin Beatty, a UW–Madison professor emeritus of soil science. Marvin received his Ph.D. from the Department of Soil Science in 1955, and then served the department and UW–Extension for 32 years. In 1966, he participated in CALS’ international program in Brazil, where he helped develop an advanced training program for the Ministry of Agriculture. Huang’s research interests include soil physics, remote sensing and soil process modeling. He is developing novel sensing platforms for monitoring soil nitrate transport in Wisconsin and combining remote sensing and artificial intelligence for high-resolution soil moisture mapping and water resources management.

Tu Anh Huynh, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science, has been appointed as the Fritz Friday Chair in Vegetable Processing Research, an appointment that includes research support for five years. The chair was established by Fritz Friday (BS’55), owner and CEO of the Friday Canning Corporation in New Richmond, Wisconsin, to support a CALS faculty member who demonstrates outstanding research and service in vegetable processing. Huynh’s research focuses on the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, which is the leading cause of foodborne illness mortality. She investigates the mechanisms of Listeria stress response and pathogenesis, works to understand the interactions of Listeria with resident microbiota, and develops natural antimicrobials for food safety applications.

Chris Kucharik, professor in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, has been appointed as the William A. Rothermel Bascom Professor in Agronomy, which provides support for research-related activities for five years. This professorship is supported by donors as well as the UW Foundation through the Named Bascom Professorship program, administered by the Provost Office. It was established in 1984 through an estate gift from William A. Rothermel, who received his BS and MS degrees in agronomy and soil science in 1930 and 1932, respectively, and then went on to be an executive with the Merck Chemical Corporation. Kucharik’s interdisciplinary research program combines ecosystem modeling with field work on plant physiology, eco-hydrology, and biogeochemical cycling to better understand land management decision-making and a changing climate. The overall mission of his research is to find ways to enhance the resiliency of ecosystems – and the services they provide – to drivers of global change.

Dominic Parker, professor of agricultural and applied economics, has been appointed as the Olav F. and Elsie de Noyer Anderson-Bascom Professor in Agricultural Economics, which provides research and scholarly activity support for five years. The professorship was established by the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in 1984 through a gift from the estate of Olav F. Anderson. Olav received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from UW–Madison in 1936, and Elsie earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UW the same year. They lived in Washington, DC and both eventually worked for the USDA. Parker’s research includes studies of environmental markets, resource booms and busts, land use, fishery and wildlife regulations, renewable energy and Indigenous community economics. He aims to understand the effects, intended and unintended, of policies directed towards the environment and natural resources and the role that markets and property rights play in regulating those effects.