What's New
New Members Inducted into Order of OAC
May 12, 2009
The OAC Recognition Banquet, an annual event to honour the many volunteers who provide support for the college and for Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food industries, environment and rural communities, had an added feature this year as three new members were inducted into the Order of OAC.
Tom and Joanne Cowan own and operate a 1900-acre cash crop and vegetable farm near Mount Brydges, Ontario. Joanne is a graduate of the BSc program at the University of Guelph (1967) and recently retired from her career as a secondary school educator and senior administrator in York County and the London-Thames Valley districts. Tom is a graduate of OAC’s BSc(Agr) program (1965). Prior to joining Cold Springs Farm as vice-president of operations in 1985, he held sales and senior management roles with Maple Leaf Mills.
Clay Switzer is an OAC ’51 graduate who returned to the college in 1955 as a lecturer after earning his PhD at Iowa State. He served as Dean of OAC from 1972 to 1983, then became Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, a position he held from 1983 until his retirement in 1989. He is the recipient of numerous honours and awards, has been inducted into Agricultural Halls of Fame at the county, provincial and national levels, and continues to play an active role on many agricultural boards and committees.
Also at the event, Paul Montoux a longtime supporter of extension teaching and research in support of the beekeeping industry, and T.K.(Sandy) Warley, former chair of OAC’s Department of Agricultural Economics and a life member of the OAC Alumni Association, were presented with Outstanding Service Awards in recognition of their exemplary volunteer service.
The Order of OAC was established in 1999 by the OAC Alumni Foundation to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the College, and to acknowledge significant contributions by individual donors toward the OAC mission to enrich the teaching and study of agriculture, food production, the environment, the community and rural development.
