International Wine Expert to Lead WSU Viticulture, Enology Program
Thomas Henick-Kling, an international leader in wine research and education, is the new director of WSU’s viticulture and enology program. He will assume his new responsibilities in March 2009 and will be located at WSU Tri-Cities.
“Dr. Henick-Kling is a scientist, educator and advocate of the highest caliber,” said Dan Bernardo, dean of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. “He has led the development of viticulture and enology programs at Cornell and in Australia, and is therefore the perfect person to take the WSU program and Washington’s burgeoning wine industry to the next level.”
Rick Small, president of the Washington Wine Commission, agreed. “I’m delighted that we have someone of Dr. Henick-Kling’s caliber on board at Washington State University,” he said. “His reputation speaks for itself, and his international expertise will certainly benefit the Washington wine industry and broaden our perspective. Any time you can attract someone with experience from outside – you move the program forward with great strides.”
“For a long time, I have admired the Washington wine industry in its vision and enormous potential for quality and growth,” Henick-Kling said. “In the past, WSU has had some outstanding individual scientists, now the WSU viticulture and enology program is a group with much talent that needs to find a common direction. I am excited about the possibility of being able to add strength to the V&E program and support the Washington wine industry.”
Henick-Kling has been honored nationally and internationally for his work. The New York Wine & Grape Foundation awarded Henick-Kling its Wine Industry Research Award in 1994. The International Association of Enology, Winery Management and Wine Marketing made him an honorary life member in 2002.
Henick-Kling has won three “best paper in enology” awards from the American Society for Enology & Viticulture, which also selected him as director of its Technical Projects Committee from 1999 to 2006. He also has served as a member of the ASEV board and as a member of the Advisory Committee for the National Viticulture Consortium East.
For more information on WSU’s research leadership, please visit: http://wine.wsu.edu/.
Thomas Henick-Kling is the new director of WSU’s program in viticulture and enology. Photo courtesy of Cornell University.
New Leadership for Crop and Soil Sciences
Richard T. Koenig, associate soil scientist and extension soil fertility specialist, has been named chair of WSU’s crop and soil sciences department.
Koenig, a member of the WSU faculty since 2003, holds a bachelor’s of science degree in natural resource management and a master’s of science degree in soil science from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He earned a doctorate in soil fertility and plant nutrition at WSU in 1993.
At Washington State University, the primary focus of Koenig’s work has been on soil and nutrient management in eastern Washington’s dryland agriculture systems.
The crop and soils sciences department, the largest in the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, has more than 160 faculty and staff statewide. That number includes USDA-Agricultural Research Service scientists who hold adjunct appointments.
For more information on crop and soil sciences at WSU, please visit: http://css.wsu.edu/.
Richard Koenig is the new chair of WSU’s department of crop and soil sciences.