This year, three AEDE alumni were selected by Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) to receive alumni awards at a ceremony held on March 5th at the Ohio Union.
Dr. Ian Blount was recognized with the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Blount is a 1994 graduate of AEDE’s undergrad program in Agribusiness and Applied Economics. Additionally, he received a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Education from The Ohio State University in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management from Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs in 2013. He has served as the Director of Foodservice Sales at Glory Foods, Inc. where he increased product distribution from 20 percent to 90 percent in the Midwest region and he improved sales to school districts by more than 100 percent. He also served as the National Account Manager at Kahiki Foods, Inc. where he tripled the amount of customers serviced in Mexico, Central America, South America and on the U.S. west coast. In 2005, he left this position to co-found the multi-million dollar custom ingredient and flavor manufacturing company Coalescence. Coalescence was honored as the Small Business of the Year by Black Enterprise Magazine in 2011. Dr. Blount has been published in the Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship and the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management. He has also received numerous awards, including the College’s 2006 Young Professional Achievement Award and an award for Outstanding Contributions Towards Diversity Enhancement from Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business in 2012. He is currently an active alumnus of the College, working closely with students in Ohio State’s Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS) program and he is a member of the College’s Diversity Catalyst Team.
B. Stevens Buckalew was also honored with the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Buckalew retired in August 2015 after a career of 38 years in the agribusiness industry. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati and graduated from AEDE with a Master’s Degree in Agriculture Economics in 1977. Buckalew started his career with the Louisville Bank for Cooperatives where he worked with many of the local agriculture cooperatives in Ohio. He then moved on to leadership positions with Landmark, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio; Countrymark Co-op in Delaware, Ohio; United Producers in Westerville, Ohio; and most recently as Chief Executive Officer of GROWMARK FS, LLC located in Milford, Delaware. In addition to Buckalew’s active business endeavors, he has overseen the operation of the Buckalew family farm outside of Centerburg, Ohio since 1985. As a board member of the Mount Vernon Farmers Exchange in Mount Vernon, Ohio, he took an active role in the merger of the Marion Landmark and the Mount Vernon Farmers Exchange, which is now the Central Ohio Farmers Coop, Inc. Buckalew has been a longtime member of the Ohio State University Alumni Association and a guest lecturer for various AEDE classes. His family funds the Buckalew Family Scholarship, which was established in 2010 and provides a yearly undergraduate scholarship to an Agribusiness and Applied Economics student who is a former member of the 4-H program in Knox county, Ohio. In 1986, the College awarded him with the Young Professional Achievement Award.
Chad Endsley was recognized by the College with a Young Professional Achievement Award. Endsley graduated with a degree in Agribusiness and Applied Economics in 2003. He continued his studies at Ohio State and graduated from the University’s Mortiz College of Law in 2006. While an undergrad, Endsley was recognized as a Top 20 Senior for his academic achievements. While in law school, he served as a student trustee on The Ohio State University’s Board of Trustees and as a member of Ohio State’s Agricultural Affairs Committee. Today, Endsley is General Counsel for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Inc., which is the largest and most inclusive agricultural organization in the state with more than 200,000 members. He actively gives back to the community and Ohio State as a member of the Ohio State Extension Advisory Committee, the Fairfield County 4-H Endowment Committee and the Ohio Agriculture Council. He also supports the College by serving on its Campaign Committee. Endsley was also recently appointed the vice-president of the Kiwanis Club of Columbus.
The alumni awards are organized each year through the CFAES Alumni Society Board of Directors who seek to honor those living alumni who personify the College’s tradition of excellence and who bring distinction to themselves and their alma mater through their outstanding professional accomplishments.
Photo, left to right: Blount, Buckalew and Endsley