4 minute read
Platteville Portrait
G
rowing up on a small Wisconsin dairy farm, DOUG BUHLER ’79 had career plans when he left for college that included anything but agriculture.
AN IMPACT MADE ON GENERATIONS OF ALUMNI
However, a chance meeting with Dr. Roger Higgs, during his second year at UW-Platteville, grew into a mentorship and ultimately a friendship that changed the trajectory of Buhler’s career.
Buhler began college as an engineering major, but after a year in the program, he decided it wasn’t for him. He spent some time exploring di erent classes before eventually wandering into the School of Agriculture where he met Higgs, who he credits with giving him a true understanding of the field of agriculture.
“Like so many farm kids, especially in past generations, I had no idea what agriculture really encompassed, and that’s where Roger really deserves credit,” said Buhler. “It isn’t just cows, sows, and plows. It’s an international business and encompasses everything from IT to business to policy to politics to cutting-edge science. That’s where it all started to click for me.”
Buhler then joined the Soil and Crop Science Program, where Higgs became both his professor and coach. Buhler was a member of the 1979 UW-Platteville Crops Team, which won its first national championship.
“At the time, I had no idea what graduate school was, and Roger was the first to suggest that I had the potential to go to graduate school,” said Buhler.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in soil and crop science with a chemistry minor, he went on to the University of Nebraska to earn his master’s and Ph.D. in agronomy and weed science. He began his career at UW-Madison and later worked at the United States Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service before joining Michigan State University as professor and chair of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences in 2000. He twice served as interim dean of MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and is currently the Associate Vice President for Research
THE 1979 CHAMPIONSHIP crops team: (front) Dr. Roger Higgs, Linda Rather, Tom Van Tassel, (back) Matt Sturmer and Doug Buhler.
DOUG BUHLER
(ABOVE) credits his mentorship and friendship with Dr. Roger Higgs (right) for changing the trajectory of his career. For more information on supporting the Soil and Crop Science Scholarship Fund and other UW-Platteville scholarships, visit www.uwplatt.edu/give or contact foundation@uwplatt.edu.
and Innovation at MSU. Buhler’s distinguished research career includes more than 400 published scientific articles and three books. In 2014, he was honored with UW-Platteville’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
“I’ve spent my whole life post-Platteville at large universities—some of the biggest in the country—and I don’t think I would have made it if I went to one of those large institutions instead of UW-Platteville,” said Buhler. “So much is due to the fact that when I was wandering around, between majors, I happened to land there with Roger—and others, like Ken Killian—who gave me a place and a connection and showed me things I didn’t know existed.”
Buhler is one of about 12,000 students Higgs taught during his 37-year career at UW-Platteville, and their story is emblematic of the many friendships and giving spirit of the Soil and Crop Science alumni community that Higgs has and continues to nourish. Higgs created the program in 1968 and was director of it from then until his retirement in 2003.
Although the program may be relatively small in numbers, generations of alumni continue to make a big impact giving back to the program, many of whom—like Buhler—are inspired by Higgs.
Buhler, and his wife, Jean, created the Doug and Jean Buhler Research Fund to support undergraduate research and other scholarly activities for students in UW-Platteville’s School of Agriculture.
“I believe there are students at UW-Platteville right now who don’t have any idea about what research is,” said Buhler. “We want to help create an environment where the faculty can do more research and give a few more students a taste of scientific inquiry. I know how important that was to me.”
Buhler also contributes to the Soil and Crop Science Scholarship Fund, which is an endowed scholarship fund that Higgs, along with others, established in 1989. As a testament to the camaraderie among soils and crop science alumni, and their loyalty to the program, the fund has raised nearly $67,000 since then—$40,000 of which was raised just in the past nearly two years, thanks to Higgs. In October of 2020, Higgs launched his own grassroots e ort to raise $50,000 more for the scholarship, calling and emailing hundreds of alumni and friends himself. Just a little over a year later, he is less than $10,000 shy of that goal.
When asked what inspires the alumni to give back and remain close—many still gathering for reunions each year—Higgs attributes it to the experiences in the program like competing on the crops and soils teams.
“I call [the crops and soils teams] the honors program,” said Higgs. “We’ve had something like 300 people through the years on the soils team and over 200 on the crops team. A lot of friendships were developed and a lot of camaraderie came from there. We had a lot of quality individuals and a lot of loyalty to the school. People who just go to the classroom don’t develop those same loyalties.”
Buhler’s answer, however, is much more simple.
“It’s Roger,” he said.
