| Front Range Seed Analysts
Who Was Anna Lute?
(click the question) Past Anna Lute Award Winners
2011 Anna Lute Award
Winner: Barbara Cleave
2010 Anna Lute Award Winner: Jim Bruce Jim Bruce is the 2010 Anna Lute
Award winner. For over 30 years he has been an advocate and prctitioner
of the intensive hands-on and interactive kind of training it takes to
educate a skilled seed analyst. He began his career at the Iowa State
Seed Laboratory. In the 1980's he created and taught this
country's most comprehensive seed analyst training program at the
Larimer County Voc-Tech in Fort Collins, Colorado. The
program included more hands-on lab time than any other program. After
that program was discontinued, he again worked full time as an analyst
and devoted additional weekends and nights to creating a new distance
education program for seed analysts through Colorado State University.
This included work on the widely used seedimages.com website reference.
Though he is no longer an instructor for that program, his materials
and efforts still influence the quality of the program today. Currently
he is a full time seed analyst at the USDA/ARS National Center for
Genetic Resources Preservation (formerly known as the National Seed
Storage Laboratory). Jim has trained too many analysts to count
including at least two previous Anna Lute Award winners. Help us
congratulate this year's Anna Lute Award winner, Jim Bruce!
2009 Anna Lute Award Winner: Dr. Brent Turnipseed The
Front Range Seed Analysts are proud to award this year's
Anna Lute Award to Dr. Brent Turnipseed! We seed analysts can't
say the name without a broad smile and a sense of pride that such an
aptly named person is a seed analyst. But far more important is
the pride we derive from his efforts to make the world better for seed
analysts. As the nominator stated "Dr. Turnipseed is a seed analyst you
can count on for assistance, guidance, and sound technical advice
whatever your question may be. He is dedicated to upholding the
highest standards of the SCST and AOSA and promoting professionalism
and proficiency in the laboratory". Brent teaches several
courses at South Dakota State University that feature hands-on seed
analysis and he does perform seed analyses as part of his lab manager
duties. 2008 Anna Lute Award Winner: Pat Brownfield The nominator concluded his remarks about her by saying “The best thing we can say is that she is remarkably generous with her time and energy. She can provide inspiration or a swift kick to the seat of your pants if that is what you need. Her experience with vegetable seeds is second to none.” The Front Range
Seed Analysts are proud to present this
year’s Anna Lute Award to Pat Brownfield. Congratulations!
(Photo: Pat with Brent Reschly) 2007 Anna Lute Award Winner: Barbara Ann Atkins
Barbara Atkins is really a lot like Anna Lute—no nonsense,
but willing to share information, is exuberant about seed testing, and
cares
deeply about her customers. 2006 Anna Lute Award Winner: Aleta Meyr ![]() Aleta Meyr has seed analysis in her genes. She has carried on her mother Betty Ransom Atwater's legacy as the director of the Ransom Seed Lab. Some of the quotes on her website and brochure are so in tune with the Anna Lute vibe that it seems there must be some relation there too. Here is one: " The lab was always a part of my life. I grew up hanging out at the lab after school, playing with seeds and carefully replanting discarded seedlings out in my garden to watch them grow." --And this: "I enjoy my days at the lab, always full of challenges and invigorating projects." Most of us know her as the tireless contributor and participant in countless projects, referees and committee work. The fact that her employees also have a high level of dedication and commitment also sustained over many years is a testament to her effectiveness as a lab director. She clearly demonstrates the Anna Lute value of making the lab a fit place for minds to live. Congratulations Aleta Meyr. 2005 Anna Lute Award Winner: Sandra Hegna
Sandra Hegna is a
long time RST and CSA. In
her 33 years of seed testing, she has
always been enthused about training other analysts.
Her students have caught her energy and in turn have “paid
it
forward” so that there is hardly a region of this country that has not
been
touched by her students or their students. One
student remarked: “She
taught me that seed identification is an art and not just a science.” Her interactions with customers go above and
beyond the typical report of analysis. She
strives to understand special needs and to ensure that
the customers
have a complete understanding of the results with additional follow up
communications. One
colleague recalls
that she was “always early and always stayed late.” Her nominators say
she has
raised the bar with her numerous contributions. Sandra currently
works at the Iowa State Seed Science Center in Ames,
Iowa. Congratulations Sandra!
2004 Anna Lute Award Winner: Marilyn Milhous Marilyn
Milhous, long time seed analyst (CSA and RST) with the Colorado
Seed Laboratory is the 2004 Anna Lute Award winner. Nominators
cited her dedication to the improvement of seed analysis and the
laboratory environment. Marilyn has continued the
Anna Lute tradition of educating the public, seed industry, and
students about seed testing. Over the decades, she provided
crucial guidance to many undergraduate and graduate students. She
provided displays and educational materials and interacted with the
seed industry in ways that inspired confidence in her seed testing
talents. One grower remarked: "If I send samples to
Marilyn, I can sleep at night." She has helped develop new
methods, assisted in the improvement of the AOSA Rules, is a
charter member of the FRSA, and is always quick to volunteer on referee
and workshop projects. Her "giddy" enthusiasm for interesting
seed samples is infectious in the lab. She strives to bring an
awareness of cultural diversity in the lab by sharing her extensive
travel experiences. Marilyn's serious side comes out in her
concern for safety, ergonomics and concern about accuracy and test
method improvement. We think Marilyn is a fine analyst in
the Anna Lute tradition. Congratulations Marilyn!2003 Anna Lute Award Winner: Dr. Tim Gutormson Congratulations Tim! (Award presented by Karin Nastick) For 32 years Jim Effenberger, seed analyst at the California State Seed Laboratory, has been trying to give people an idea of what seed analysts do and he has been making of the lab, as Anna Lute put it, "a fit place for minds to live." Congratulations Jim!
Congratulations Nancy! (Award presented by Tim Loeffler.) Susan R. Maxon, Seed Analyst with the Seed Regulatory and Testing Branch of the USDA in Beltsville, Maryland, is the 1999 Anna Lute Award winner. She has worked in seed testing for 22 years. Her nominator praised her excellent knowledge of purity and testing procedures and her identification skills. Many around the country have benefited from her instruction at federal seed schools and workshop presentations. Her efficient and conscientious service on the AOSA Rules Committee, editorial committee, and other technical committees, has benefited everyone in seed testing. She is also active in ISTA technical committees. State, seed company, and independent laboratories seek her advice and assistance to help solve a variety of difficult seed testing problems and seed identification questions. Susan Maxon also works to educate the general public, students, and teachers about seed testing.
Congratulations to Susan
Maxon. Award presented
by Gil Waibel.
Congratulations to Deborah Meyer for making
the Seed Lab
(as Anna Lute said) a “a fit place for minds to live…”
The contributions of the 1997 Anna Lute award recipient are too numerous to list. Some highlights to mention here are: she was instrumental in writing the CSAAC Constitution and Bylaws; has been a Seed Show Judge at Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, in conjunction with the Manitoba Seed Industry Days she has conducted grading workshops; seasonally is on radio with phone-in interviews concerning seed and disease problems in Manitoba; has served as CSAAC President two terms; hosted CSAAC and SAM workshops while giving presentations at many more workshops; was the first woman named as Fratemalist of the Year in 1994 by United Commercial Travelers International; was SCST Historian 1984-86; SCST Secretary Treasurer 1986-93; Canadian Referee Chairperson 1978-80; and recipient of the SCST 1993 Meritorious Award. Congratulations to the 1997 Anna Lute Award
winner Marie
T. Greeniaus.
Sharon Davidson, RST and owner of Agri-Seed Testing, Inc.,in Salem, Oregon has won the inaugural Anna Lute Award. Her laboratory is indeed a place "fit for minds to live in... " and her skill as an analyst is highly regarded, particularly in the turf grass sector. Though she isa business owner, she does spend more than 50% of her time testing seedsand is an effective "hands on" manager. She has taught numerous seed workshops. Also noted by the selection committee was her effort to fight falsified reports in the seed trade. The award was presented at the breakfast in
Milwaukee
on June 17. Congratulations Sharon!
ANNA LUTE AWARD NOMINATIONS FORM (pdf file) click here to: get acrobat reader |