Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack released the following
statement in response to Dr. Knipling’s retirement:
“Dr. Knipling has guided nearly 2,000 scientists with a
focus on ARS as the working arm of USDA science and an organization of national
responsibility. In 1997, he helped spearhead the National Research Programs
that provide organizational structure to approximately 800 ongoing research
projects. He has created an environment in which science can flourish and
researchers can innovate to address the nation's most pressing issues.
Under his leadership, ARS has developed a globally
recognized program of breeding and genetics for plants and animals. Crops
improved by ARS for disease resistance – against the devastating wheat disease,
Ug99, for example – and genetic markers developed for animal selection have
advanced U.S. agriculture and improved lives worldwide. Responding to modern
health concerns, Dr. Knipling has heightened the focus of ARS science on
nutrition and childhood obesity.
Dr. Knipling's retirement brings to a close about eight
decades of Knipling family service to ARS and USDA. His father, famed ARS
entomologist Dr. Edward F. Knipling, made vast contributions to U.S.
agriculture – including development of the technology that led to the
eradication of the screwworm from the United States, Mexico, and Central
America.
On behalf of USDA, I am deeply grateful to Dr. Knipling for
his service and leadership, and for the contributions of the Knipling family to
the science that stands behind the progress of American agriculture and the
well-being of our citizens.”
#30
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