Gerry L. Posler papers

Gerry L. Posler was born 24 July, 1942 and raised on a farm near Cainsville, MO. He received his B.S. (cum laude) (1964) and M.S. degree (1966) from the University of Missouri, and his Ph.D. degree (1969) from Iowa State University. He served on the Agronomy faculty in the Department of Agriculture at Western Illinois University, Macomb, from 1969 to 1974. Since 1974, he was at at Kansas State University, primarily doing undergraduate Crops teaching and retiring in 2008. He served as Assistant head for Teaching from 1982-1989 and Head of the Department of Agronomy from 1990 - 1998. He co-coordinated the Department of Agronomy Centennial celebration and co-authored the Agronomy Department History in 2006.
Before serving as Head, Dr. Posler's primary activities were teaching and advising, but he also had an active research program in forage management and utilization. At Western Illinois and Kansas State Universities, he taught courses in Crop Science, Plant Science, Forage Management and Utilization, Crop Diseases, World Crops, Crop Breeding, Crop Growth and Development, Internship in Agronomy, Plant and Seed Identification, Grain Grading, and Crops Team. He actively participated as member or chair of many departmental, college and university committees, including extended terms on the Faculty Senate at both WIU and KSU.
His research activities at Kansas State University included management and quality of cool-season grasses, legumes, summer annual and small grain forages, and planning forage systems for beef cattle. He also received USDA-DOE grants to evaluate sweet sorghum as a potential alcohol fuel feedstock. His research and teaching publications include 44 abstracts of papers presented at national meetings, 31 refereed journal articles, more than 30 other technical and popular publications, and 26 book reviews.
Dr. Posler has been advisor to many student groups, including Wheat State Agronomy Club, Plant Science Club, Alpha Zeta, Agriculture Council, and the Student Activities Subdivision of ASA. He coordinated two Comparative Agriculture study tours to Central and South America and two tours to Australia and New Zealand. He initiated a Collegiate Crops Team at WIU and coaches the KSU Collegiate Crops and NACTA Crops Teams. Fourteen of his Collegiate and NACTA Crops Teams were National Champions during 1999-2007.
Dr. Posler is a life member of the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), chairing the NACTA Journal book review board, serving as Central Region Director, Vice President, and President in 1991. He was program chairman for the 29th NACTA Conference at KSU in 1983 and served on the NACTA Foundation Board. He was the first President of the Kansas Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (KACTA) and served as NACTA coordinator for Kansas.
Dr. Posler has been an active participant in the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and Crop Science Society of America (CSSA). He served on numerous committees and was Chair, Division A-la, Student Activities Subdivision; Chair, Division C-3, Crop Ecology, Production, and Management; Associate Editor, Crop Science Journal, Board Representative, Member, ASA Budget and Finance committee; and Chair, Crop Science Research Award, Student Achievement Award, and Collegiate Crops Contest Committees. He was a co-organizer of the KFGC and was Member and Chair of the KFGC Awards Committee.
Dr. Posler holds membership in many honorary and professional societies, including Phi Eta Sigma, Sigma Rho Sigma, Alpha Zeta, Gamma Sigma Delta, Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Xi. In addition to NACTA, he is also a member of American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, the American Forage and Grassland Council, the Council of Agricultural Science and Technology (Cornerstone Club), and the Kansas Forage and Grassland Council.
Dr. Posler has received numerous awards, including the Kansas State University College of Agriculture Outstanding Faculty of the Semester (1978,1981,1986,1999, and 2006), the NACTA Teacher Fellow and Outstanding Central Region Fellow awards (1978), the Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award of Merit (1982), the Kansas State University Outstanding Teaching Award (1983), the ASA Agronomic Resident Education Award (1986), the NACTA Ensminger-Interstate Distinguished Teaching Award (1987), the Gamma Sigma Delta Distinguished Faculty Award (1991), the Kansas Forage and Grassland Council Award of Excellence (1992), the KSU NACTA Teaching Award of Merit (1992), the NACTA Distinguished Educator Award (1997), the KSU College of Agriculture Alumni Distinguished Ag Faculty Award (l999), the KSU College of Agriculture Outstanding Advisor Award (2000), the Crop Science Society of America Teaching Award (2002), Gamma Sigma Delta Outstanding Advising Award of Merit (2003), Honorary Membership in the Kansas Crop Improvement Association (2004), and the Collegiate Crops Contest Coaches Committee Appreciation Award (2005).
He was elected Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1988 and the Crop Science Society of America in 1991.