Vice President's Excellence Fund focuses on students 

Thousands of alumni have supported the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences by making gifts to the Vice President's Excellence Fund. The college's annual fund provides discretionary monies for efforts including outreach, alumni relations, students' co-curricular activities, and undergraduate research. In short, these gifts provide funding for projects that would not be possible without friends of the college.

CFAES alumni cite varying reasons for supporting the college with annual gifts, but they all had one main motivator in common: the importance of helping students.

For example, 1985 graduate Julia Gerken Zoldak was a scholarship recipient and said she gave to the fund to support future students. Joanne Captain Jones, who earned her B.S. in Ag Econ in 1975, echoed Zoldak's sentiments. "I give because I'm an alum and I want to help support the school whenever I can," Jones said, "I felt like giving because I attended Ohio State and to try to help. I feel it's important to support the students."

In addition to the desire to help students, career paths led some CFAES graduates to support the Vice President's Excellence Fund. This was the case for Steven Wade Johnson, who said, "I just like to support the college I went to and I think education is important. Having been a teacher for 34 years, I like to support education as much as I can. I like the work Ohio State does."

Johnson, who earned his M.S. in Ag Education in 1979, also spoke of his parents' influence on his philanthropy. "My parents always supported schools. My father was on the board of Ashland College, which is now Ashland University, and always donated even though he wasn't a college grad. My parents were a big influence on my giving. It's important to me to support my college."

For Bob Agle, a 1980 Animal Sciences graduate, happy memories of his time as a student and belonging to a family of Ohio State alumni made him want to give. Agle regularly supports the Livestock Judging Team in addition to the Vice President's Excellence Fund. "I normally give to the Livestock Judging Team because I was on it. It's important to keep that going because I feel extracurriculars are what college is all about. Academics are needed but I was also in the marching band and on the judging team and I got a lot out of it. Those are the things you remember 30 years later. I know extracurriculars are the kind of thing that gets phased out. A lot of colleges had livestock judging teams and don't have them now. Both of my daughters went to Ohio State and got a lot out of it. One daughter is in charge of beef promotion for the Cattlemen's Association. My wife was in nursing and supports it. We're all big Buckeye supporters."

Support of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences' Vice President's Excellence Fund is more important than ever before. As extracurricular activity costs soar and students already struggle just to fund tuition, books, and room and board, it is vital to support the college's annual fund. For questions on giving to this fund, or to any CFAES fund, contact the Office of Development at (614) 292-0473. -- Amy McKenzie

Schollenberger creates fund for Arboretum Lab

Charles Schollenberger has made arrangements for The Ohio State University through a trust to contribute funds to The Ohio State University Foundation.

The gift shall create the Charles Schollenberger Arboretum Visitors Center Biological Lab Endowment. The annual distribution from this endowment shall be used to provide funds for programming and the purchase of biological lab equipment or supplies in the Biological Lab at the Arboretum Visitors Center at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster, Ohio. Funds can also be used for funding for the Charles J. Schollenberger Family Day to be held annually or biannually.

Charles' grandfather, Charles J. Schollenberger, joined the staff of the Ohio Agricultural Experimental Station in 1910 and spent 47 years as an agronomist before retiring in 1958. He overcame deafness as a child to earn a bachelor's degree in chemistry from The Ohio State University in 1925. His life's work as a research pioneer led him to take known soil additives, such as limestone and manure, and determine how much was needed to enhance agricultural production. Between 1949 and 1957 Charles J. Schollenberger was associated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service where he promoted efforts to save topsoil.

Schollenberger's son, Charles S. Schollenberger, began a distinguished career in chemistry as a child when his father let him perform simple experiments in his laboratory at the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station in Wooster. He went on to major in chemistry at the College of Wooster and earned a doctorate at Cornell University. Hired by the B.F. Goodrich Co. right out of graduate school by noted polyvinyl chloride inventor Dr. Waldo Semon, Chuck helped open Goodrich's new research center in Brecksville, Ohio, in 1948. Over 10 years of patient research paid off in 1959 when Chuck proudly added his contribution to Goodrich's long list of "firsts in rubber," the development of "Estane®," the world's first thermoplastic polyurethane. -- Shawn Cleveland

New scholarship supports urban gardening students

Undergraduate students who are majoring in urban gardening will benefit from a new scholarship created by Dr. Helen Churella of Sierra Vista, Arizona. The Albert A. Churella Urban Gardening Scholarship has been established in memory of her husband, Albert. The $50,000 endowment will provide annual scholarship support to at least one undergraduate student majoring in urban gardening with preference given to students studying fruit and vegetable gardening. The scholarship reflects Mr. Churella's passion for gardening. He was especially fond of growing blueberries.

Mr. Churella was born and raised in Patton, Pennsylvania. He served as a technical sergeant in the Panama Canal Zone during World War II, and as a flight engineer and staff sergeant during the Korean War. Between the wars, he attended the University of Minnesota. After his military service, he joined North American Aviation Corporation in Columbus, Ohio.

According to Dr. Churella, her husband always had a keen interest in gardening. Besides having a home garden in Columbus, he maintained gardens on their farm in Portage County, Ohio. He later became interested in blueberries. By the mid-1960s, Mr. Churella had planted over 600 blueberry plants on approximately 10 acres of the farm. Each spring, summer, and early fall, he would diligently prune and fertilize the plants. By the early 1970s, the plants were flourishing and producing an abundance of fruit. To this day, most are still producing a fine crop of berries. The plants are now cared for by his nephew who is very interested in maintaining the blueberry patch begun by his uncle more than 40 years ago.

 "I am so happy to create a scholarship that will help students in my alma mater college," said Dr. Churella, "and it would please Al to know that a scholarship in his name will help support a student's career in urban gardening."

The Albert A. Churella Urban Gardening Scholarship is one of two funds at the university that Dr. Churella has created to honor those most important in her life. The Anne Prochazka Endowment Fund for Oncology Nursing Education pays tribute to her aunt who was a nurse specializing in infant paralysis. Through her estate, Dr. Churella also plans to support cancer research, human nutrition research and scholarships, and research in biological sciences at The Ohio State University.

Dr. Churella is a three-time graduate of Ohio State, having received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry through what was then named the College of Agriculture. She went on to receive her master's degree in biochemistry and her doctorate in human nutrition. She had a distinguished 37-year career with Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories. She specialized in pediatric nutrition research and development, which led to patents for her work in providing selenium in a nutritional product and for her nutritional product for infants with chronic lung disease.

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences is grateful for Dr. Churella's generosity and is pleased to be a part of the Churellas' legacy at Ohio State and in gardening. -- Mary Yerina

Dairymaster gift benefits ATI Dairy Lab, students

Dairymasterâ„¢ USA Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, is contributing a new 10 Unit Entry Level Swiftflo Dairy Parlor to The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) in Wooster. The gift of $231,405 consists of gifts-in-kind including consulting, dairy equipment design, layout, specifications, and equipment.

The ATI Dairy Laboratory was designed to give students in the two-year Dairy Cattle Production and Management Technology program practical experience in the management tasks encountered on many of today's dairy farms. Students are required to work and to assist in the management of the laboratory on a daily basis as part of their practicum course. The laboratory is also used extensively for instruction in other courses such as dairy cattle production, genetics, nutrition, reproduction, health, judging, and presentation. The herd consists of Holsteins, Jerseys, and Brown Swiss, with 125 mature cows and 100 young stock. It is a free-stall barn with total mixed ration feeding.


 "This is an outstanding opportunity and this relationship between the university and industry needs to continue to help our students work with the latest technology," said Steve Nameth, director of ATI.

Operating since 1968 from its head office in Causeway, County Kerry, Ireland, Dairymaster is one of the world's leading dairy farm equipment manufacturers. This year also marks the tenth year Dairymaster has operated in the United States. -- Shawn Cleveland