The Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association awarded eight Certificates of Distinction during the annual Ag Alumni Fish Fry on Feb. 11.

The certificate honors those who significantly affect agriculture through professional accomplishments, involvement in agricultural organizations, community work and other service activities. The 2006 recipients are:

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The Purdue Agriculture Alumni Association honored these eight people with Certificates of Distinction. Left to right are: Earl Robertson, Ellsworth Christmas, William McVay, Chris Johannsen, Allen Hammer, Robert Taylor, Lawrence Stauffer and Michael Beard.

Michael Beard, BS ’68, of Frankfort, Ind., owns and operates Meadowlane Farms and Meadowlane Waste Applications. Beard has been a leader in agriculture advocacy and policy activities, serving local, state and national organizations.

Ellsworth Christmas, BS ’58, MS ’61, PhD ’64, of West Lafayette is a professor emeritus of agronomy. During more than 40 years of service to Purdue Agriculture, he served 15 years as the assistant director and agricultural and natural resources program leader for Purdue Extension. He retired in December 2004 as the Purdue Extension soybean specialist.

Allen Hammer of West Lafayette has been a Purdue professor of horticulture and landscape architecture since 1973. He is the lead scientist on the National Poinsettia Cultivar Trials. Under his leadership, Purdue is one of only three sites for trials funded by the world’s poinsettia breeders.

Chris Johannsen, PhD ’69, of West Lafayette, is a professor emeritus of agronomy and former director of the Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing. He was a pioneer in precision agriculture and has worked and traveled in 53 countries and has presented at meetings in 10 countries.

William McVay, BS ’53, MS ’56, of West Lafayette was a high school agricultural science and business teacher for 34 years. McVay taught at Whitko High School in South Whitley, where he was a leader in training agriculturalists to keep and analyze farm records.

Robert Taylor, MS ’59, PhD ’63, of West Lafayette has spent his entire professional career as a member of the Purdue agricultural economics faculty. An expert in farm management, he specializes in understanding the complexities of combining business and family.

Earl Robertson, BS ’56, MS ’70, of Linton, Ind., is a retired professor and department chair of agribusiness at Vincennes University, where he developed the agribusiness program with the assistance of Purdue. At Vincennes, he was adviser to the Distributive Education Club of America chapter and conducted on-the-job training programs.

Lawrence Stauffer, BS ’58, of Delphi, Ind., spent five years in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps, then returned to Purdue and received a doctorate of veterinary medicine in 1967. Operating a veterinary practice in Delphi, he helped develop the pseudorabies vaccine, making a significant contribution to the swine industry.