NDSU is hosting the Great Plains Land-Grant Summit June 12-13 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which created land-grant universities such as NDSU.

“The summit will not only help commemorate this milestone by celebrating our rich tradition and history, but it will also help showcase the relevance of our teaching, research and Extension mission today as well as in the future,” said Duane Hauck, chair of the Land-Grant Summit organizing committee and emeritus director, NDSU Extension Service.

The faculty is invited to attend Land-Grant Summit speaker presentations on June 12. The agenda follows.

Morning
Crystal Ballroom, Ramada Plaza and Suites

8:30-8:45 a.m., Welcome by Bruce Rafert, NDSU provost

8:45-9:30 a.m., “A Report to Senator Morrill: The Land-Grant University after 100 Years” by Tom Isern, University Distinguished Professor of history

10-10:30 a.m., “The Future of Land-Grant Universities: America Poised to Reinvent Itself Again” by Dean L. Bresciani, NDSU president

10:30-11 a.m., “A 1994 Land-Grant Perspective” by David Gipp, president of United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, N.D.

11 a.m.-noon, “The Morrill Act: Proud Legacy, Enduring Future” by Waded Cruzado, president of Montana State University, Bozeman

Afternoon
Ag Country Auditorium, Richard H. Barry Hall

1:45-2:15 p.m., “USDA: 150 Years Old and Building for the Future” by Ed Schafer, former North Dakota Governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

2:15-3 p.m., “The Science of Seizing Opportunities and Rising to Challenges: Our Next 100 Years” by Sonny Ramaswamy via videoconference, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture

3:15-3:45 p.m., “USDA and Land-Grant Universities: Past, Present and Future Partnership,” Rebecca Blue, deputy under secretary, marketing and regulatory programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture

3:45-5 p.m., “Land Grant Reinvention: An Ag Research and Extension Perspective” panel discussion moderated by Doug Goehring, North Dakota agriculture commissioner. Other panelists are:

• Douglas Steele, vice president for external relations and director of Extension at Montana State University, Bozeman
• Arlen Leholm, executive director of the North Central Region Association of Agricultural Experiment Stations, Madison, Wis.
• Ken Grafton, vice president for agricultural affairs, dean of the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources, and director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.