Donald Hardesty, BS '48, Findlay, Ohio, has been retired since Dec. 31, 2000. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Fritz) Hardesty, have been married since 1953 and have three children and four grandchildren.

Robert C. Vollmer, BS '52, Nashville, Ind., is the great-grandfather of Robert Charles Spurgeon, who was born Nov. 13 and is the family's fourth-generation Boilermaker.

John W. Dudley, BS '53, is a professor emeritus of plant genetics at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. The first International Plant Breeding Symposium, held Aug. 20-25 in Mexico City, was dedicated to him in recognition of his contributions to plant breeding research and to the education of graduate students. The symposium, sponsored by Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), Iowa State University and the University of Illinois, attracted more than 365 scientists from 60 countries.

James Stephen (Steve) Koons, BS '66, MS '74, Lebanon, Tenn., retired from the U.S. Army as a colonel in 1998 after 30 years on active duty. He subsequently was selected to serve as a civilian employee of the Army in the Senior Executive Service. In 2004, Koons was honored as a Presidential Meritorious Executive for exceptional long-term accomplishments. Winners of this highly competitive and prestigious annual award are strong leaders, professionals and scientists who achieve results and consistently demonstrate strength, integrity, industry and a relentless commitment to excellence in public service.

Darrel Kesler, BS '71, MS '74, professor of reproductive physiology in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, has received two awards from the university. In the spring, he was awarded the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences' Paul A. Funk Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement and Major Contributions to the Betterment of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Systems. Kesler also received the Campus Award for Excellence in Advising Undergraduate Students. He lectured in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Egypt this past year.

Robert E. Parson, BS '72, San Diego, Calif., graduated from the University of California, San Diego, in June 2005 with a master's degree in advanced studies in the leadership of health care organizations. He retired from Beckman Coulter as senior staff biostatistician on Sept. 22 and now is director of biostatistics, medical and clinical affairs for Biosite Inc. in San Diego.

William "Don" Cunningham, BS '74, Veedersburg, Ind., was hired in July as a crop insurance specialist with Farm Credit Services of Mid-America. His sales territory consists of nine counties in northwest Indiana.

Roger D. Foulks, BS '74, Holmes Beach, Fla., is membership chair for the Purdue Club of Sarasota, Fla. Foulks is an independent financial consultant. His daughter, Cassandra Foulks, received a BS in psychology from Purdue in 2005, and his granddaughter, Lindsay Yarborough, is a freshman in the School of Engineering.

John Mumford, BS '74, is the recipient of the 2006 John V. Osmun Alumni Professional Achievement Award in Entomology. Mumford is a professor of natural resource management at Imperial College in London, England. He is known worldwide for his work in pest management decision-making. His expertise on fruit flies has been sought in dealing with medfly control in Guatemala, U.S. border surveillance, and internal detection and cleanup of outbreaks. He is a member of the Entomological Society of America, past vice president of the UK Royal Entomological Society and a member of its governing council. He is also a member of the UK Agricultural Economics Society and European Association of Agricultural Economics. The Osmun award is presented annually to a graduate of Purdue's Department of Entomology. It is named for the man who was head of the department from 1956 to 1972.

Steven Fourez, BS '77, Fairmount, Ill., was elected to a seat on the Vermilion County (Illinois) Board in the Nov. 7 election.

Janell Hilton-Farmer, BS '78, Fowler, Ind., has been elected chair of the board of trustees of John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill.

Beth Stickles McDaniel, BS '80, Carmel, Ind., has been serving as the executive director of the Indiana 4-H Foundation since July. She previously had been on the board of directors since 1997. In addition, she continues to maintain her marketing and project facilitation company, Get Results Inc.

Scott E. Fellwock, BS '84, Goodlettsville, Tenn., has served as president of the Soil Scientists Association of Tennessee for the past two years and is head of a planning committee to formulate legislation for licensing soil scientists in the state.

John Stumph, BS '86, MS '90, DeKalb, Ill., is deployed to Iraq on his second tour of duty with the U.S. Army. He is a command sergeant major.

Allyson (Forsythe) Fiene, BS '88, MS '95, Peotone, Ill., is a landscape architect with the Forest Preserve District of Will County in Joliet, Ill.

Maria (Layton) Yang, BS '90, Columbus, Ind., and her husband, Xiaoping Yang, announce the birth of their daughter, Jasmine Mei Shi-Li Yang, on July 20. They have another daughter, Lulu.

Andy Slack, BS '91, moved to Buckeye, Ariz., in April. His second daughter, Danica Max Slack, was born July 10.

Craig Hunt, BS '93, DVM '02, joined the staff at Caring Hands Pet Hospital in Indianapolis as an associate veterinarian in May.

Jim W. Smith, BS '93, Perry, Iowa, joined Medipharm USA a year ago as director of technical support. He is responsible for customer support, product development, and live-animal research in the use of direct-fed microbials in livestock production.

Kathleen (Stecher) Bliss, BS '94, Freedom, N.Y., a faculty member in the Agriculture and Horticulture Department at Alfred State College since 2001, has completed her master of liberal arts degree at Excelsior College, which advertises itself as "America's first virtual university." Her thesis examines the problems and perceptions facing pit-bull-type breeds of dogs. She and her husband, Marc, are the parents of Matthew, 4, and Anna, 2.

Chris Stott, BS '94, lives in Columbus, Ind.

Stanley J. Popovich, BS '95, Naperville, Ill., married April Boyer on May 13 in Columbus, Ohio.

Melissa Kasper, BS '97, Clearwater, Fla., earned her master's degree in special education from the University of South Florida and is teaching secondary students with severe autism spectrum disorders in an exceptional center in Tampa, Fla.

Carla (Finke) Cole, BS '98, Trafalgar, Ind., and her husband, Jeff Cole, BS '98, announce the birth of their son, Davis Roger Cole, on Oct. 8, 2005.

Shannon (Feucht) Casper, BS '99, and her husband, Jesse, live in Fond du Lac, Wis., with their son, Drew Michael, who was born Aug. 15, 2005. They are expecting a daughter in March.

David Cruser, BS '99, is an Indiana conservation officer and was recently honored as the 2005 Boating Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and 2005 Northern U.S. Regional Boating Enforcement Officer of the Year by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators for his boating enforcement efforts and public relations. After working in Hamilton County for 10 years, he transferred to Parke County in July. He and his wife, Staci, live in Rockville, Ind., with their two daughters.

Jeremy A. Kelley, BS '99, Bloomington, Ind., married Jennifer Hamilton on Aug. 13.

William M. Mason, BS '99, Stockton, Calif., is a quality assurance manager with Hormel Foods Corp. in Stockton.

Craig A. Rebich, BS '99, Franklin, Ind., has joined ABG as a technical writer. ABG is a consulting company with food and agriculture clients worldwide.

Jeremy Sweeten, BS '01, MS '03, Peru, Ind., and his wife, Michelle (Dearinger) Sweeten, BS '01, MS '03, announce the birth of their son, Paul Lloyd Sweeten, on May 15.

Luke Minich, BS '02, and his wife, Kimberly (Easterly) Minich, BS '02, Cicero, Ind., welcomed a baby girl, Anna, in April.

Kathryn M. Rippel, BS '02, MS'03, St. Louis, Mo., has transferred from the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Houston, Texas, to an engineering job at the corporate headquarters in St. Louis.

Ann L. (Yager) Robards, BS '03, MS '05, was married on Nov. 4 to Nate Robards, BS '04. They live in Bargersville, Ind.

Sarah E. (Pence) Wagler, BS '03, MS '06, Morgantown, Ind., married Justin Wagler on Sept. 2.

Lyndsay A. Knoblock-Fast, BS '04, recently moved to Newport, R.I., to start her PhD in medical entomology at the University of Rhode Island. She married Nathaniel D. Fast on Sept. 30.

Jeroen D. Leroy, MS '04, Santa Barbara, Calif., spent the year after his graduation traveling around Europe and North America. He then took a job at Haley and Aldrich Inc., a geotechnical and environmental engineering firm in Boston. He worked on hydrologic modeling projects and provided data analysis and GIS expertise for the firm's project management team. He now heads GIS/data analysis for the firm's litigation support team in the Santa Barbara office.

Timothy R. Holzer, PhD '05, Indianapolis, accepted a position as a research associate with Eli Lilly and Co. in August. He works at both the corporate center in downtown Indianapolis and the research labs in Greenfield, Ind.

Allen Sargent, BS '49, Kansas City, Mo., passed away Jan. 1, 2006.

Darryl Wayne Stults, BS '49, Richmond, Ind., died Aug. 14.

James Manka, BS '53, Kirkwood, Mo., died of colon cancer on July 25.