Carl Griffey reappointed W.G. Wysor Professor of Agriculture
Carl Griffey, professor of crop and soil environmental sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, has been reappointed as the W.G. Wysor Professor of Agriculture by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands and Executive Vice President and Provost Thanassis Rikakis.
The W.G. Wysor Professorship was established by Southern States Cooperative Inc. to honor the founder of Southern States and its chief executive officer from 1923 to 1948. The professorship recognizes excellence in service and the candidate’s potential to further impact the college and Virginia agriculture. The term of the professorship is five years.
Griffey has held the title of Wysor Professor since 2011.
A member of the university faculty since 1989, Griffey is considered the expert small grains breeder in the eastern United States and is director of one of the few highly regarded breeding programs in the nation.
In the past 27 years, Griffey has developed and released nearly 100 barley and wheat varieties, which are grown in several states. Since 2011, he has brought more than $2.7 million in sponsored research funding and more than $3.4 million in royalties to Virginia Tech.
Griffey’s work has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, the governor of Virginia, the Virginia Agribusiness Council, and the Virginia Small Grains Association.
In 2012, he was named a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, the highest award given by the organization.
Griffey has served as major professor for 24 graduate students, including 14 Ph.D. students, and serves on numerous other student committees. He teaches the upper undergraduate-level plant genetics and breeding course and the graduate-level advanced plant genetics and breeding course and consistently receives strong evaluations from his students.
Griffey received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, a master’s degree from Washington State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska.
