PSM alum receives CANR Outstanding Alumnus Award

Dirk Drost to receive 2020 CANR Outstanding Alumnus Award at ANR Week.

Photo of Dirk Drost.

Dirk Drost, Ph.D., will receive the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) Outstanding Alumnus Award during ANR Week on March 6.

The CANR Outstanding Alumni Awards are given to those who have distinguished themselves by obtaining the highest level of professional accomplishments, and who possess the highest standards of integrity and character.

Dirk Drost earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in crop and soil sciences (Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences). He then completed his master’s and earned his Ph.D. in agronomy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Drost began his career with Stauffer Chemical Company, followed by ICI Americas, Inc., and Zeneca Agricultural Products. In these organizations, he was a field scientist and researcher, technical manager, and development manager.

Since 2000, he has been head of the North America Crop Protection Development Project Management Department for Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC. Under his leadership, numerous crop protection tools have been developed. He also served as Syngenta’s liaison to the USDA IR-4 Project and was instrumental in establishing tolerances and labels for more than 4,000 new uses for herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.

Since 2011, Drost has been the Syngenta representative for the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) and became executive treasurer in 2019. Because of his experience with the IR-4 Project and CAST, in June 2019 he became chair of the Minor Use Foundation, Inc. Additionally, he is a member of International Weed Science Society, North Central Weed Science Society, and the Weed Science Society of America.

Drost served on the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Board of Visitors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was part of the dean’s advisory team. He has supported the work of the University of Wisconsin Kemp Biological Station in northern Wisconsin, the UW College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and the UW Department of Agronomy. He also pioneered the R. Gordon Harvey Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship in Weed Science, which has provided fellowships for 12 students to date.

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