UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Two graduates of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences have been chosen to receive prestigious university alumni honors. The university's board of trustees selected Obie Snider of Imler to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Penn State Alumni Association named Stuart Patton of La Jolla, Calif., as an Alumni Fellow.

A 1950 graduate of Penn State with a degree in dairy husbandry, Snider is managing partner of Singing Brook Farms. He is involved both statewide and nationally in agricultural and community affairs. He is president of the Pennsylvania Dairy and Allied Industries Association and in May 1991 was named to the board of directors of the American Farmland Trust. He served on the board of directors of the National Holstein Association from 1968 to 1976 and was president of the National Holstein Foundation from 1993 to 1999.

From 1979 to 2000, Snider was a member of Penn State's board of trustees, elected by the state's agricultural societies. During his 21 years on the board, he served on all committees and represented the trustees at numerous commencements. He was the board's president from 1985 to 1987. He received the status of Trustee Emeritus in July 2000.

Snider has been involved in several College of Agricultural Sciences activities. He is a former director of the college's alumni society and chaired the Ag Arena fundraising committee. He was named the college's Outstanding Dairy Alumnus in 1980.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest alumni honor that Penn State bestows. The award salutes the achievements of outstanding alumni whose "personal lives, professional achievements, and community service exemplify the objectives of their Alma Mater."

In recent years, Patton has been adjunct professor in both the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California-San Diego and in the foods and nutrition program at San Diego State University. He is known internationally for his research and teaching in the fields of milk chemistry and the biological processes that regulate milk synthesis in the mammary gland.

He received his bachelor's degree in dairy husbandry from Penn State in 1943 and went on to earn his master's and doctorate from Ohio State University. In 1949, he joined the dairy science faculty at Penn State, and in 1966 he became the College of Agricultural Sciences' first Evan Pugh Professor.

Since retiring from Penn State in 1980, he has continued to publish actively in scientific journals. Patton holds membership in numerous professional societies and has received many honors and awards during his distinguished career.

The Alumni Fellow Award is the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association. Leaders in their professional fields, Alumni Fellows are nominated by an academic college and are invited to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty and administrators.

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Jillian Stevenson at 814-863-7278.

Contacts:

Chuck Gill cdg5@psu.edu 814-863-2713 814-865-1068 fax