Two former OSU educators are induced into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

(October 7, 2008   Stillwater, OK) - Former dean of the Oklahoma State University College of Environmental Sciences, Dr. Patricia Knaub and  former animal science department head, Dr. Donald Wagner are among 10 higher education leaders inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame Tuesday, October 7, 2008.

Knaub served as dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences for 18 years.  Under her direction, the college experienced a 98 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment and a 50 percent increase in graduate students over the last 12 years. She successfully headed the reorganization of administrative and recruiting functions and established mentoring programs and comprehensive career services for students. Two departments, hotel and restaurant administration and interior design, are ranked among the top 10 in the nation by industry sources. A nationally recognized leader in her profession, she has served as President of the National Council on Family Relations, and was on the Board of the National Council on Family Relations from 1991 to 1994.  

Wagner served as department head of animal science from 1990 until 2008. Under his direction the department emerged as the largest undergraduate major and scholarship program at OSU and developed state-of-the-art beef cattle and swine research facilities. Wagner earned his bachelor of science degree from Ohio State University in 1959, before heading to Cornell University to receive his master of science and doctoral degrees. Shortly after, he joined OSU faculty in 1965 with whom he spent several years in Ethiopia, Africa, as part of a U.S. program started by the Harry S. Truman Administration to provide economic development assistance to less developed countries.
 
Also among this year inductees are Dr. David Dary, University of Oklahoma; Dr. Harold Fletcher, Oklahoma Christian University; Dr. James P. Pappas, University of Oklahoma; Dr. William D. Pennington (posthumous), Murray State College, Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Tulsa Community College; Dr. Virginia L. Peter, University of Central Oklahoma; Dr. Charles Dan Proctor (posthumous), University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma; Emily B. Smith (posthumous), Western Oklahoma State College; Dr. Frank Waxman, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and EPSCor.  
In addition a Special Award of Merit was given to Herman Meinder.