Eleven Purdue Agriculture alumni with a cumulative 14 Purdue degrees will join the ranks of the Distinguished Agricultural Alumni during a campus ceremony March 21.

The DAA award honors mid-career graduates of Purdue’s College of Agriculture who have made significant contributions to their profession or society in general and have a record of outstanding accomplishments.

The selection committee consists of the dean of agriculture, four associate deans, 12 department heads and three unit directors.

Since the award program was started in 1992, 152 Purdue Agriculture alumni have received the honor.

The 2008 honorees are:

Akin Adesina, MS ’85, PhD ’88, New York. Adesina was recently appointed vice president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, an organization formed through a joint effort of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Jeffrey G. Arnold, PhD ’92, Temple, Tex. Arnold has been engaged in research for 23 years with the USDA Agricultural Research Service and has been involved with the development of many hydrologic and watershed management models. Arnold was recently appointed laboratory director for the ARS.

Caula A. Beyl, MS ’77, PhD ’79, Knoxville, Tenn. In June, Beyl was appointed dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Before that, she served as interim dean in the office of graduate studies and director of the office of institutional planning, research and evaluation at Alabama A&M University in Normal, Ala.

Yonas Gizaw, PhD ’96, Cincinnati, Ohio. Gizaw is principal scientist in the Procter and Gamble Co. fabric and home care technology division. His work created a $40 million annual savings in the North American liquid softener line. He is leading a biodegradable and renewable biopolymer program for a global dry laundry detergent that will significantly reduce the use of petroleum-based polymers for detergents.

Roger W. Hadley II, BS ’75, Woodburn, Ind. Hadley began farming in 1968, while still in high school, and currently operates an 800-acre farm in Allen County. He is a former president of the Indiana Soybean Growers Association and is vice president of the Indiana Soybean Alliance.

David W. Howell, BS ’69, MS ’71, Middletown, Ind. Howell established Howell Farms in 1972. Within 10 years, the farm had grown to 5,000 acres and now includes more than 15,000 acres in Brazil. Howell Farms also grows 700 acres of fruits and vegetables.

Tuajuanda C. Jordan, PhD ’89, Chevy Chase, Md. Jordan is the senior program officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Earlier, she was associate vice president for academic affairs at Xavier University of Louisiana. She joined the staff at the medical institute after Hurricane Katrina damaged her New Orleans home and temporarily shut down classes.

Michael R. Kanost, PhD ’83, Manhattan, Kan. Kanost was appointed professor of biochemistry at Kansas State University in 1999 and has headed the department since 2003. In 2005, he was named a University Distinguished Professor. He is the author of 122 journal articles and book chapters and is co-inventor of two awarded patents.

Roy D. Riggs, BS ’79, Greenfield, Ind. Riggs has worked for Elanco Animal Health for 28 years and was recently named director of Global Specialty Business for Elanco. He received the Purdue Animal Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.

Claire Sawyers, BS ’78, MA ’81, Media, Pa. Since 1990, Sawyers has been the director of the 330-acre Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa., with a full-time staff of 22. She directed the transition of the private estate of Mrs. Lammot duPont Copeland into a public arboretum. Sawyers has written more than 40 magazine articles about gardens.

Thomas R. Wiltrout, BS ’75, MA ’76, Indianapolis. Wiltrout is general manager of the North American and European plant genetics business for Dow AgroSciences. He oversees a 400-person organization encompassing all associated activities from plant breeding to commodity grain processing, with a focus on corn and oilseed crops.