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2018 Distinguished Award Winner: Brett Hale

04/30/2018

This week, we will be recognizing each of the 2018 Distinguished Service Award recipients.

The Distinguished Service Award winners are the institution’s most outstanding graduates because of their leadership, scholarship and citizenship. Faculty, staff, advisers to student organizations, and other members of the campus community submit nominations for the prestigious awards.

All of the recipients have achieved excellent academic records and provided countless hours of service to the community, their classmates, campus organizations, their departments and colleges, and to Arkansas State University. A committee comprised of students, faculty, staff and previous Wilson Award recipients makes the final selections.

Today's featured recipient is Brett Hale of Doniphan, Mo. Nominated by Greg Phillips, it was the support of a faculty member during the recruiting period that brought Brett to A-State. Here he discovered a passion for agricultural research and service that led him into his future career.

Hale graduated in December with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) degree in plant science.  Among his many activities, he served as an ambassador for the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Technology, a member of the Student Research Committee, president of the Plant and Soil Science Club, and secretary and vice president of the Collegiate Future Farmers of America chapter.  He also is an ambassador for the Honors College Association.

In addition to campus activities, he has been highly involved in agricultural research.  He was a presenter at the annual meeting of the Society for In Vitro Biology last summer, and he served an intern at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.  He also won an award for his oral presentation at the 2017 Create@State. 

Currently involved in soybean genetics research and development for a major international seed company, he plans to attend graduate school. He was nominated by Dr. Gregory Phillips, professor of plant biotechnology.