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Six honored by CFAES

Six of the 14 College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) award recipients have relationships with Ohio State ATI. Recipients were nominated as a result of graduating from Ohio State ATI or in the case of the meritorious service award because of their service to Ohio State ATI.

These award recipients will be Dale Leppo (Chairman of the Leppo Group) – the CFAES Meritorious Service Award. The purpose of this award is to give public recognition to non-alumni and/or alumni of the College who have been singularly significant in the College’s quest for excellence.

Ohio State ATI graduates in 1980, 1974, and 1984, respectively, were selected to be recipients of the CFAES Distinguished Alumni Award. This award gives public recognition to those who have brought distinction to themselves and the College at large through their participation, commitment, and leadership.

Bryan Black (owner of Ned Black and Sons, LLC) - Black is a 1980 graduate of Ohio State ATI and is a strong leader in the pork industry in Ohio and nationally with the Ohio Pork Producers Council and the National Pork Producers Council.

Bob Gibbs (U.S. congressional representative) - Gibbs is a member of Ohio State ATI's first graduating class in 1974 with a degree in swine production and management. He served three terms in the Ohio House of Representatives and was elected to the Ohio Senate in 2009. He has served as U.S. Representative for the 7th District of Ohio since 2011.

Wayne Impullitti (owner and President of Impullitti Landscaping, Inc.) – Impullitti earned a degree in nursery management in 1984. In addition to running a highly successful landscaping business, Impullitti serves on Ohio State ATI's Key Advisory Committee and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gold Medal—one of only eight awards given nationally—on two separate occasions at the Cleveland Botanical Garden Center and more than 50 other awards from state landscaping associations and horticultural experts from around the country.

Ohio State ATI graduates selected to be recipients of the CFAES Young Professional Award are Renee Geyer (turfgrass management graduate and presently Assistant Superintendent of Firestone Country Club Golf Course) and Josh Jennings (livestock science graduate and presently farmer and Director of the new Springfield, Ohio based Agricultural Science School) who graduated in 2009 and 2000, respectively. Josh also graduated with a degree in animal sciences from the Columbus campus. This award recognizes alumni for their early professional accomplishments and provides recognition for those individuals and serves as stimulus toward further efforts by young alumni.

"I congratulate these 2015 recipients of the highest awards bestowed on our CFAES alumni and service providers by our College," said Jim Kinder, interim director of Ohio State ATI.  "This is a great showing by Ohio State ATI in having this illustrious group of 2015 CFAES Alumni recipients." Recipients will be recognized at an event in Columbus on March 7, 2015.