April 25, 2002

Endowment Honoring NDSU Wheat Breeder Established

An endowment honoring retired North Dakota State University wheat breeder Richard C. Frohberg has been established by the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences in the NDSU Research Foundation. The endowment will be used to support spring wheat breeding projects in department.

Interest from any funds donated to the endowment will support graduate students, provide operating funds and offset other costs associated with the department’s spring wheat breeding program, according to Al Schneiter, chairman. The principal will not be used, allowing continual support of the plant breeding efforts.

The endowment was originally established in the department through the NDSU Research Foundation with some of the research fees from the wheat variety "2375." A substantial gift from North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association was received in February and added to the endowment.

The endowment was recently named after Frohberg who served as NDSU’s hard red spring wheat breeder for 37 years. He was only the third spring wheat breeder in NDSU’s history. As the research leader of the breeding program, Frohberg and his associates released 24 hard red spring wheat varieties and one hard white spring wheat variety. Those varieties dominated North Dakota’s spring wheat production and some had significant acreage in Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota. Some of the varieties he was responsible for during his career included Stoa, Grandin, Butte, Butte 86, Coteau, Len, Parshall, Reeder, Waldron and Alsen. Frohberg retired from NDSU in early April and will continue to live in Fargo and advise his replacement.

The endowment is open to additional donations. For more information about the endowment or to learn how to make a donation to the Richard C. Frohberg Endowment, contact Al Schneiter in the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences at (701) 231-7973, or email albert.schneiter@ndsu.nodak.edu.

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Source: Al Schneiter, (701) 231-7973, albert.schneiter@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu