NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

August 27, 1998

Long-Time NDSU Weed Scientist to Retire

John D. Nalewaja, a professor with the plant sciences department at North Dakota State University, will retire in early September. His departure marks the culmination of a 36-year career in higher education that began where it ended: at NDSU.

"John is probably one of the best-known weed scientists in the United States," says Al Schneiter, chair of the NDSU plant sciences department. "In his dual roles of researcher and educator, his influence truly has been international in scope."

Nalewaja received his B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota and spent two years teaching high school vocational agriculture courses before returning to graduate school at the U of M, where he completed his master's in 1959 and received his Ph.D. in agronomy in 1962, the same year he came to NDSU.

"In mid-career, John did a tremendous amount of research on wild oat biology and control and is respected worldwide as an expert on wild oat control," says Cal Messersmith, an NDSU professor of plant sciences and a colleague of Nalewaja's for 32 years. "Throughout his career, John kept the needs of the producer in mind. Even for some of his research that would be considered fairly basic, he always could see where it could be translated into benefits for the farmers."

Later in Nalewaja's career, he became interested in the use of adjuvants, compounds designed to increase the effectiveness of herbicides. In this research, he evaluated renewable vegetable oils from flax, sunflower and other crops, with the idea that these oils could replace petroleum oils. His first success was the discovery that seed oils were superior to petroleum oils when applied with some herbicides. He then used methylated seed oils as herbicide adjuvants and found these compounds to be better than other adjuvants for some herbicides. This discovery led to worldwide development of methylated seed oil adjuvants.

"In some cases, the herbicide rate can be cut in half by using a methylated seed oil versus a petroleum oil, or surfactants," says Messersmith. "The economic benefits to producers and the environmental benefits to us all from John's work in this area are obvious."

It was Nalewaja's research that lead to creation of the methylated seed oil adjuvants Scoil™ and SUN-IT II™, which were cooperatively developed and marketed by AGSCO Inc. in Grand Forks, N.D.

Nalewaja's most recent research resulted in a new type of adjuvant, marketed by AGSCO as Quad 7™. That product, a surfactant-fertilizer blend, received a patent in 1997. Messersmith explains, "It's a new breakthrough, that for specific herbicides, allows you to substantially reduce the rate. And the cost of this new adjuvant is somewhat less than the cost of the methylated seed oil adjuvants, but control is still equal or better than with the methylated seed oils."

As an educator, Nalewaja trained a total of 56 graduate students, 33 working toward their master's and 23 Ph.D. candidates. Many of his former students are now in the hierarchy of major chemical companies or researchers at universities. In addition, he served as advisor for 20 visiting scientists from Poland. His relationship with the Polish researchers resulted in his receiving an honorary doctorate from the Agricultural University of Poznan, Poland.

"In Poland, when you receive an honorary doctorate, it actually makes you a member of the faculty. It's more than an honorary title and is quite a significant recognition," explains Messersmith.

Beyond his research and teaching, Nalewaja assumed many leadership roles within his profession during his career. For example, he served as president of both the North Central Weed Science Society (NCWSS) and the Weed Science Society of America, which also honored him with its WSSA Outstanding Teacher and Outstanding Researcher awards.

Locally, Nalewaja has received the Fargo Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Professor Award and has been named the North Dakota Agricultural Association Outstanding Agriculturist and the NDSU Alpha Zeta Outstanding Agriculturist. Other significant recognitions include the NDSU Economic Development Award and the NDSU Eugene R. Dahl Excellence in Research Senior Career Award. A research laboratory in NDSU's Loftsgard Hall will be named in Nalewaja's honor.

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Source: Albert Schneiter (701) 231-8137

Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136