[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15461]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: DR. FRED CHOLICK

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, more than 7,000 students and thousands of 
South Dakota farm and ranch families have been impacted through the 
leadership of one man: Dr. Fred Cholick.
  Dr. Cholick has served South Dakota's No. 1 industry of agriculture 
for nearly a quarter of a century. He has been a teacher, a mentor and 
an advocate for expanded research. For the past 6 years, he has served 
as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences at South 
Dakota State University, a land grant university and South Dakota's 
largest educational institution.
  He has earned a strong reputation nationally. Through his work, he 
caught the attention of Kansas State University, where he will become 
Dean of the College of Agriculture in Manhatten. It is a loss for my 
home state of South Dakota, but an incredible professional opportunity 
for Dr. Cholick.
  When Dr. Cholick became Dean of the College of Agriculture and 
Biological Sciences in 1998, he instilled a motto for the college: 
``Making a Difference.'' It was a bold statement that faculty embraced 
and, to those students who arrived on campus, it signaled the high 
expectations of the University and Dr. Cholick.
  Dr. Cholick is an academic, but he has never been confined to a 
classroom or laboratory. He has traveled extensively throughout our 
expansive state, engaging in a constructive dialogue with farmers, 
ranchers and agri-business men and women. He understands that adapting 
to the changes in agriculture--brought about by a global economy, 
breakthroughs in technology and other factors--should be a 
collaborative effort.
  While Dr. Cholick is a forceful spokesperson for agriculture, he is 
an equally good listener, taking in people's ideas and insights in a 
patient, thoughtful manner.
  As a young professor and researcher from Oregon State University and 
Colorado State University, Dr. Cholick made a difference for South 
Dakota's farmers with his work on spring wheat varieties that can 
withstand the harsh weather of the Great Plains. He continued that 
commitment when he headed up the Plant Science Department, continually 
working to improve seed genetics to create more efficient and effective 
corn and soybean varieties.
  South Dakota State University has been enriched by Dr. Cholick's 
service for 23 years. Beginning next month, he will continue his good 
work at Kansas State University.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting Dr. Cholick for his 
distinguished career and commitment to our Nation's land grant 
institutions.

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