Senior Scholars Oral History Interview Dwayne Westfall, Interviewee Robert Zimdahl, Interviewer

May 12, 2016

Robert Zimdahl: My God it does. Give us your full name and date of birth.

Dwayne Westfall: Dwayne Gene Westfall. November 21st, 1938.

Robert Zimdahl: Where were born?

Dwayne Westfall: I was born on a small farm in Aberdeen, Idaho. It's southeastern Idaho. We grew row crops and had a feeding operation.

Robert Zimdahl: You grew up there?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes, I grew up there. Of course, we can't forget potatoes. That was our main crop.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh. Yeah. Tell us about your parents and what they did.

Dwayne Westfall: My father was originally born in Sarcoxie, Missouri. They immigrated out to Idaho when his older brother started the homestead out in the desert, just west of the Snake River. He moved out when he was in the 7th/8th grade. He went to high school at Aberdeen High School.

Robert Zimdahl: Your father?

Dwayne Westfall: My father did. Then, he started renting farms and finally bought a farm. That's the main farm that we lived on. My mother still lives there.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh.

Dwayne Westfall: She's 100 years old and still living on the farm independently.

Robert Zimdahl: Your mother was a mother, a housewife?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. She was. She worked on the farm.

Robert Zimdahl: Your parent's education?

Dwayne Westfall: My father wanted to be a lawyer but he ran out of money after the first year of college. So, he went back and went to the farm and worked with his dad and his older brother for a few years. My mother, I don't even believe she finished high school. Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Do you have siblings?

Dwayne Westfall: I have one brother. He lives around Arco, Idaho. He spent his life working in the airline industry as an airplane mechanic and retired from there. He moved back to Idaho.

Robert Zimdahl: When you were a young boy, how did you spend your time?

Dwayne Westfall: I spent my time working on the farm. Before was I was old enough to work on the farm, I spent my time riding horses with my cousin.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative).

Dwayne Westfall: Around the farm. We had a lot of work to do on the farm so I spent all my time working on the farm.

Robert Zimdahl: Other than your father and mother, were there some people who influenced you, mentors?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. There were two individuals that really influenced me. These were when I was in college. I was in FarmHouse Fraternity at the University of Idaho. We had two advisors, Dr. Ross and Dr. Materno. They were very close to us. We were a very small fraternity, academically based. They really influenced my decision. I saw how they were impacting and influencing young people and I decided at that time that I wanted to influence young people the way they did. When I was a junior in college, I decided I wanted to be a professor.

Robert Zimdahl: When you were a young boy, were there any special formative experiences that made you what you are?

Dwayne Westfall: Well, my father... I expressed interest in staying on the farm. But, my father told me and I remember his exact words. He said, Dwayne, there's a lot easier ways to make a living in agriculture than farming. Those were the words of advice that I took.

Robert Zimdahl: Your mother still lives on the farm but she's not a farmer?

Dwayne Westfall: No. We sold the farm. We have the house, and a little bit of area there.

Robert Zimdahl: Where was your elementary education?

Dwayne Westfall: I went to elementary in Aberdeen and high school in Aberdeen.

Robert Zimdahl: Was it a good education?

Dwayne Westfall: I thought it was an excellent education at the time. Mainly driven by two or three teachers. They also had a big impact on my decision to go to college. Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. What were your best subjects?

Dwayne Westfall: How do you mean? Most interesting or best grades?

Robert Zimdahl: You choose.

Dwayne Westfall: I always liked chemistry and math. I remember I wanted to take auto mechanics. The principal called me and said, Dwayne, you're going to college aren't you? I said, Yeah. I am. He said, I don't want to you to take auto mechanics. I want you to take some math and chemistry in preparation for college. I took his advice and it was very good advice.

Robert Zimdahl: Good advice. Based on what you said, I assume your father and mother's attitude were very supportive of education.

Dwayne Westfall: Absolutely.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. When you were in high school, you said you were going to college. Did you have a clear vision of where you were going? Not place, but what you were going to do?

Dwayne Westfall: I just knew it would be agriculture related. I thought about agricultural engineering. Then, I decided against that. I knew it was going to be something agriculture.

Robert Zimdahl: When you were in high school and as a young boy, were you a reader?

Dwayne Westfall: Not particularly.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Neither was I.

Dwayne Westfall: I was too busy having fun doing other things.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. What other things were fun?

Dwayne Westfall: There was friends, fishing, hunting, swimming out in the reservoir.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. Did you have any jobs off the farm?

Dwayne Westfall: After I went to college, my father cut back on the acreage he was farming because I was the youngest one and it left him with only one hired hand. I worked at the Aberdeen Experiment Station during the summers as a technician for an agricultural engineer working on irrigation.

Robert Zimdahl: How big of a farm did your dad have? Dwayne Westfall: We had 160 acres on the home place and then we rented another 80 acres of potato ground out of what we called the desert, which was under side roll irrigation system.

Robert Zimdahl: Were you ever in the military?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: When and what branch?

Dwayne Westfall: When I went to the University of Idaho, I went through the ROTC program. When I graduated I was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Chemical Corps.

Robert Zimdahl: In the army?

Dwayne Westfall: In the army.

Robert Zimdahl: The Chemical Corps because you'd majored in Chemistry or because they put you there?

Dwayne Westfall: I think it was because they had a need for people to do... This was during the Cold War period, 1961 to 1963. I look back at it and I think the reason was because I had an agricultural background. I had a degree and they had a need for people to do biological warfare research related to crops at the U.S. Army Biological Laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Robert Zimdahl: Let's go back to that in a minute. Where did you go to college?

Dwayne Westfall: University of Idaho.

Robert Zimdahl: In Moscow?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. When did you graduate?

Dwayne Westfall: 1961

Robert Zimdahl: '61. How did you pick your major?

Dwayne Westfall: That's real interesting. Like I said, I started out in Ag Engineering and I didn't really like that. I went over to Ag Econ and I didn't really like that. I was talking to my advisor in Ag Econ at the time. He said, based upon your background and your interest, you need to go talk to a guy over in agronomy, Geo Baker. I went over and talked with him. We talked for a length of time. He said, why don't you come back tomorrow and I'll have an outline of the courses that I would like you take if you major in agronomy. I went back the next day. He had all of the courses outlined on a piece paper, each semester, what I would take if I would major in agronomy.

Robert Zimdahl: You were a freshman or sophomore then?

Dwayne Westfall: I was a sophomore. That individual had a big impact on my life just because he took an interest in me.

Robert Zimdahl: Did you any extra‐curricular activities when you were an undergraduate?

Dwayne Westfall: Undergraduate?

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. I was active in my FarmHouse Fraternity leadership. I was active in the Ag Club. I can't remember other things.

Robert Zimdahl: When you finished your bachelor's degree in... What did you say, '61?

Dwayne Westfall: '61.

Robert Zimdahl: Then you went directly into the army?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Biological warfare related to plants. Say some more about that.

Dwayne Westfall: I was station at the U.S. Army Biological Laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland. It had three phases of research: anti‐crop warfare, anti‐personnel warfare, and anti‐animals. It was all related to biological agents. It was top secret at the time. I don't know how much I can really talk about because I don't know whether or not it's still classified. Basically, what I was doing was studying the epidemiology of stem rust of wheat.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh. Mm‐hmm (affirmative).

Dwayne Westfall: With the ultimate goal of targeting the red bastia of Russia, which was Ukraine.

Robert Zimdahl: They never did that, did they?

Dwayne Westfall: No.

Robert Zimdahl: Was that a good thing that they didn't do it? Dwayne Westfall: At the time, during the Cold War, anything that we could do against Russia was a good thing as far as the Army was concerned, the way that we were trained and that type of thing.

Robert Zimdahl: In your opinion, was it a good thing that they didn't do it?

Dwayne Westfall: Oh, it's a good thing we didn't do it.

Robert Zimdahl: Because?

Dwayne Westfall: Well, because of the devastation it would have caused to the population of Russia, not only the military but the civilian population.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: If we killed all their wheat, which we had the capability of doing.

Robert Zimdahl: You did have the capability?

Dwayne Westfall: The Army had the capability.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). When did you marry?

Dwayne Westfall: Married when I graduated from high school in June 1961. Excuse me, graduated from college in June 1961.

Robert Zimdahl: How long have you been married?

Dwayne Westfall: 55 years as of June 23rd.

Robert Zimdahl: Very good. You're supposed to know that, like that. Children?

Dwayne Westfall: We have three children, 12 grandchildren, and three great‐grandchildren.

Robert Zimdahl: Where are your children now? What do they do?

Dwayne Westfall: My oldest son is an agricultural engineer. He is a partner in Keller‐Bliesner Engineering in Logan, Utah.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative).

Dwayne Westfall: He works mainly in water rights allocation. He does a lot of work for native tribes. Native tribes are a company to us. My daughter is an environmental engineer, works for Pinyon Environmental down in Colorado Springs. She does a lot of work for the state of Colorado, etc. Mainly drainage in their new construction projects. My youngest son is Vice President of Global Systems for InterContinental Hotel Group in Atlanta, Georgia. He takes care of all the web based activities for InterContinental Hotels.

Robert Zimdahl: Despite the fact that you didn't become an engineer, you have two engineers in the family?

Dwayne Westfall: That's right.

Robert Zimdahl: Each of your children is married?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes, they are. All of them are married.

Robert Zimdahl: Apparently, some of their children are married? You have great‐grandchildren?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: How many great‐grandchildren?

Dwayne Westfall: Three.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh. I only have one.

Dwayne Westfall: Three girls.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. During your undergraduate time at Idaho, did you have a clear vision of where you were going after that?

Dwayne Westfall: After my junior year, yes I did.

Robert Zimdahl: So, after the army you went right on to graduate school?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Where did you go?

Dwayne Westfall: I went to Washington State University. That's very interesting how I ended up there. When I was in the army, I worked as a research assistant to Dr. Breo who was a plant pathologist. He was on sabbatical leave from Washington State, working in our greenhouses because we had environmentally safe greenhouses that no agents could get outside.

Robert Zimdahl: In the army you mean?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. We had a lot of greenhouses.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Dwayne Westfall: I was working with him. He was working on, I think it was stripe rust. Stripe rust had just started to invade up in the Pacific Northwest. He and I worked together and became very good friends. He was able to arrange for me to get an NDEA, National Defense Education Act Fellowship for Washington State University.

Robert Zimdahl: Master's program?

Dwayne Westfall: It was a program where you could... Well, it was kind of a trial. It was a four‐year fellowship and if you were good enough, I guess you could say, you could go to master's. If you passed master, you went straight for PhD.

Robert Zimdahl: What was your dissertation?

Dwayne Westfall: The chemistry of aluminum in some highly acid sorts. I originally wanted to have a combined plant pathology and soils related dissertation, but that didn't work out.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Your graduate experience was good? Washington State was a good place to be?

Dwayne Westfall: Oh yeah.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: It was hard. I had to work hard. I wasn't an intellect.

Robert Zimdahl: Let's see now, you went to Washington State in what year?

Dwayne Westfall: 1963.

Robert Zimdahl: And you finished in '67 or '68?

Dwayne Westfall: '67.

Robert Zimdahl: '67. What happened then?

Dwayne Westfall: At that point, I got a job. I had a couple of offers and I ended up going with Texas A&M University in their Experiment Station at Beaumont, Texas working on rice.

Robert Zimdahl: Assistant professor?

Dwayne Westfall: Pardon?

Robert Zimdahl: You were assistant professor?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Robert Zimdahl: In Beaumont, Texas.

Dwayne Westfall: The rice country.

Robert Zimdahl: Ah. Yeah. How long were you there?

Dwayne Westfall: I was there for six years. Then, I decided it's too far foreign from the western United States with wading in the rice paddies and the humidity. So, then I took a job with Great Western Sugar Company in Longmont, Colorado.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: I was their senior plant nutritionist. I worked for Great Western Sugar Company for several years.

Robert Zimdahl: When did you move to CSU and why?

Dwayne Westfall: Right after I was with Great Western Sugar Company the Hunt Brothers bought out the company. After a few years, do you remember, they were trying to get a corner on the silver market?

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: And that failed. They started stripping all of their assets in order to pay off their sugar losses. Excuse me, their silver losses. After I had the first meeting with Bunker Hunt, I could tell that his goals and mine weren't the same. At the same time I had been supervising grants that the sugar company gave to various universities. I worked with Al Ludwick and became a very good friend with Bill Schmehl and Wayne Keim.

Robert Zimdahl: You were at Great Western when Ken DeBroven was in charge?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: Ken DeBroven and I still have lunch together about once every three or four months.

Robert Zimdahl: I'm going to ask you about that too.

Dwayne Westfall: Okay.

Robert Zimdahl: Okay. You left Great Western when and came to CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Robert Zimdahl: What year?

Dwayne Westfall: In 1978. My first assignment was to go with the On‐Farm Water Management Project in Logar, Pakistan.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh. So you came to CSU and left?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: How long were you in Lagor?

Dwayne Westfall: Two years.

Robert Zimdahl: Two years. Is that a good thing?

Dwayne Westfall: That was a wonderful experience. John Royce was the research leader, the team leader over there.

Robert Zimdahl: Why was it wonderful?

Dwayne Westfall: Because of the opportunity to observe different cultures and learn about different cultures. And, to become acquainted with a lot of the fine professors at the universities in Pakistan.

Robert Zimdahl: But, that was as hot as Beaumont, Texas to go to Lagor.

Dwayne Westfall: Lagor had two seasons, a wet and a dry.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Was that your only international experience?

Dwayne Westfall: No. Ever since that time I've worked a lot with international students. I've had projects in South Africa, Morocco, India, Chile.

Robert Zimdahl: You've been there?

Dwayne Westfall: Yeah.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: Australia. We spent a sabbatical leave in Australia, worked with the people over there.

Robert Zimdahl: Where were you in Australia?

Dwayne Westfall: At Brisbane.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh, at Brisbane. Dwayne Westfall: CSIRO in Brisbane.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. How was your initial interview at CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: I don't really think I had an interview.

Robert Zimdahl: Was Wayne department head when you came?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: So Wayne just hired you?

Dwayne Westfall: Bill Schmehl said, we need this guy. He's a good guy and we need him. I went out for lunch with Wayne one day and he said, do you want to come to work for us? I said, sure.

Robert Zimdahl: Who were your principle colleagues? Other than Bill.

Dwayne Westfall: You mean overseas or at CSU?

Robert Zimdahl: No. In Fort Collins.

Dwayne Westfall: Al Ludwick, Bill Schmehl, Bob Danielson.

Robert Zimdahl: All retired now.

Dwayne Westfall: All retired. Arnold Klute.

Robert Zimdahl: Wayne was department head. Who was dean?

Dwayne Westfall: Johnson.

Robert Zimdahl: Any comments about Wayne or Don Johnson?

Dwayne Westfall: I didn't know Don Johnson that well. Wayne was a wonderful department head, I think one of the best. I guess maybe that reason that is, is because I liked him and he liked me.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: He let me do what I wanted to do as long as it fit within the goals of the university.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Who was President of CSU when you came?

Dwayne Westfall: I really can't remember. Robert Zimdahl: Ray Chamberlain, I think.

Dwayne Westfall: Chamberlain is right. Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Any thoughts about dean and above, administration at CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: No.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. How many years did you work at CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: I retired in 2011.

Robert Zimdahl: 2011.

Dwayne Westfall: What's that, 35 years, something like that.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. You went through the three professor ranks?

Dwayne Westfall: I was hired as an associate professor.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). So two ranks?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: You were always in the Agronomy department?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Okay. During that time. When you came, what were your professional goals? What did you hope to do?

Dwayne Westfall: I hoped to influence young people the way I had been influenced by the professors I was associated with, particularly those two I mentioned previously at the University of Idaho.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Did you do that?

Dwayne Westfall: I think I did, particularly to my graduate students.

Robert Zimdahl: When you say influence them, what does that mean?

Dwayne Westfall: Influence them to be better citizens and to be scientists that contribute to agriculture production and whatever environment they work in.

Robert Zimdahl: Do you think your career at CSU has made a difference?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Robert Zimdahl: How? What happened?

Dwayne Westfall: Well, Dr. Gary Peterson came to the University in the mid‐1980s. I had known him when I was with Great Western Sugar Company. We had already developed a relationship. The first 10 years of my career I spent mainly working in soil fertility. After Dr. Peterson came, I expanded that to include cropping systems. When I first started doing nitrogen research on dryland winter wheat, there was about 10% of the farmers that used nitrogen and less that used phosphorous. In a ten‐year period through extension activities and working with Jim Echols and having fertility rate plots of nitrogen and phosphorous in conjunction with his variety testing, we showed the farmers the importance of proper fertility management. Over the ten‐year period, we went from 10% using properly fertilization to 90%.

Robert Zimdahl: Dryland?

Dwayne Westfall: Dryland.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: I spent most of my time at CSU working in dryland. Except the last few years, working in precision agriculture and irrigated.

Robert Zimdahl: The early goal was to influence these young people the way you'd been influenced. Did that change with time?

Dwayne Westfall: Oh, did my goals change?

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: No.

Robert Zimdahl: No. So the students were always important?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: How many graduate students did you have?

Dwayne Westfall: I haven't really counted but I'd say 40 or so.

Robert Zimdahl: Masters and PhD?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). One of the goals of most research programs is publications. How did you do there? Dwayne Westfall: Well, my graduate students and I have probably over 125 refereed general articles, 250 or so other types of everything. From Experiment Station publications to...

Robert Zimdahl: Did you write book chapters, books, anything like that?

Dwayne Westfall: I didn't write books. I was invited but I just didn't have that desire. I've written about a dozen chapters in books.

Robert Zimdahl: Are any of those, in your memory, particularly significant?

Dwayne Westfall: Particularly what?

Robert Zimdahl: Significant.

Dwayne Westfall: No one sticks out.

Robert Zimdahl: Are there some that you're more proud of than others?

Dwayne Westfall: As far as the publications?

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: Oh, definitely. Yes. The work that I did with Dr. Peterson, I feel real good about that. I think we had a real impact upon driving cropping systems.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative).

Dwayne Westfall: Soil conservation as well as increasing net farmer return, by going away from just the wheat fallow operation to a no‐till wheat, corn, fallow, or putting millet in there, or several other somewhat younger crops.

Robert Zimdahl: So you changed farming practice in Eastern Colorado?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes, we did. We had a very significant impact.

Robert Zimdahl: It's endured. The change is still there.

Dwayne Westfall: It keeps expanding as farmers see the benefit of it. The benefit is measured by dollars.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Did you have professional activities outside of CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: I served our society, the American Society of Agronomy, so a science society. Other than that... Well, I do have a consulting company.

Robert Zimdahl: Now? You do? Dwayne Westfall: I've had it for 20 years, yes.

Robert Zimdahl: Consulting dryland farmers?

Dwayne Westfall: No. Just general agronomic and soil science consulting, mainly doing a lot of environmental monitoring, serving as an expert witness in litigation related to agricultural related production.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. When you first came to CSU, what facilities were provided for you? That is, when you came back from Pakistan.

Dwayne Westfall: I think I had a pickup and $5000 a year, Experiment Station funding, and a technician.

Robert Zimdahl: That's pretty good.

Dwayne Westfall: That's very good.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: For back then.

Robert Zimdahl: Did that endure or did things expand as time went on?

Dwayne Westfall: Oh, yes. At the time external was expanding, internal funding was decreasing. By the time I left CSU I had $0 or maybe $100 Experiment Station funding.

Robert Zimdahl: What was your primary duty as an associate professor at CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: Associate professor?

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: At that time I worked as a state soil fertility extension specialist for a couple of years, first two years I got back. Then, Al Ludwick left. I took over his research and teaching assignment. I taught several courses, mainly related to soil fertility at CSU. I was 30% teaching and 70% research.

Robert Zimdahl: What courses have you taught?

Dwayne Westfall: Soil fertility of course, which is my mainstay, which I love to teach. Anywhere from 20 to 60 students in that, over the time period, once a year. I've taught the graduate seminar, environmental soil science, portions of that, portions of the international agriculture courses that we've offered. Those are all I can remember at this time.

Robert Zimdahl: What were the goals of your teaching? Dwayne Westfall: To provide an environment that was conducive to learning for the students.

Robert Zimdahl: How did you do that?

Dwayne Westfall: I'd try to be a friend as well as a professor, had a personality, be completely open with them, available at any... I did not have office hours. I was available any time that I was around.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). What did you learn from them?

Dwayne Westfall: Oh my goodness. I learned so much from them. I learned a lot from the farm boys, of course. I learned a lot about what they were doing and how what we were teaching fit into their practices. I learned how to communicate, how to have feelings for these students.

Robert Zimdahl: Did your teaching goals change with time?

Dwayne Westfall: I think they became more strong, as far as my commitment to teaching and to impacting students.

Robert Zimdahl: Did your teaching techniques change with time?

Dwayne Westfall: Oh, yes. It evolved, mainly with the technology.

Robert Zimdahl: How? What happened?

Dwayne Westfall: Moving into an electronic age. I also taught a course in presentation of scientific information for graduate students. I actually tried to teach them how to write an abstract and how to present a paper to scientific media. I found that to be very satisfying because I had graduate students from all over the department, geneticists and everybody. I thought that was particularly satisfying.

Robert Zimdahl: Did you find that your students could write well, when they began?

Dwayne Westfall: It's just as variable as students are. Some of them could write well and some of them couldn't put three words together.

Robert Zimdahl: So, by the time they finished your course they could do 12 words?

Dwayne Westfall: I don't think I had an impact on that.

Robert Zimdahl: University funding decreased, external funding increased. Did writing grants become a major chore of your work?

Dwayne Westfall: If you wanted to survive, writing grants became a major part of your chore.

Robert Zimdahl: And you were successful? Dwayne Westfall: Yes. I would classify it as being successful.

Robert Zimdahl: Where did most of your grant funding come from?

Dwayne Westfall: The first 10 years, when I was working in soil fertility, 90% of it came from fertilizer companies.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh.

Dwayne Westfall: As the fertilizer companies started to consolidate, what used to be three companies that would give me a grant it consolidated down to one and they'd give me the same grant. But, there was only one, not three.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: That was the first 10 years. Then, I could see that was going on. Dr. Peterson came about that time and we started competing for federal funding.

Robert Zimdahl: Federal funding from USDA?

Dwayne Westfall: USDA. Yes, mainly the USDA.

Robert Zimdahl: Not EPA?

Dwayne Westfall: I have never had an EPA grant.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). What were the biggest challenges of your first years at CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: I think that I fit in real well. Back then, the pressure of promotion and tenure was not what it is today. I can never remember having pressure for promotion or tenure. My philosophy was, if I'm doing what I was hired to do and publishing appropriately, I would get promoted. Quite frankly, I can't even remember submitting a promotion and tenure document.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. It was different then.

Dwayne Westfall: It was different then.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. What were the biggest rewards of your years at CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: Of my total years?

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: I have received a lot of awards from our society and from the regional organizations, recognition of my achievements. Robert Zimdahl: Did you receive any of those awards from the university?

Dwayne Westfall: No. The only one I think would have been appropriate would have been the teaching award.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Thinking of those people who are coming in now, those young people, much younger than we are. What advice would you give them?

Dwayne Westfall: I think I would give them advice to concentrate on what they are hired to do. If they are hired to teach and research... I know there's a tendency for a lot of new professors to slight the teaching because the research is what really is recognized by the university, in my opinion more than teaching.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative).

Dwayne Westfall: I would advise them not to lose focus, but they have students who they are impacting. Keep their focus on that as well as... I think most new PhDs will do an excellent job in research. That's ingrained.

Robert Zimdahl: But not teaching?

Dwayne Westfall: I think some of them have a tendency to slight the teaching in favor of research.

Robert Zimdahl: And you suggest that is not good?

Dwayne Westfall: That is not good.

Robert Zimdahl: It's not good because?

Dwayne Westfall: It's not good because those are the people who are going to be the future leaders of agriculture in the United States. They're cultivating the future graduate students and scientists and industrial representatives.

Robert Zimdahl: Is there anything that you know about being a professor, about being a research scientist, that you'd wish you'd known back in the ‘60s?

Dwayne Westfall: I will say today that I am glad that I am not a new professor coming into the system. The pressures are much greater today than I...

Robert Zimdahl: Pressures to do what?

Dwayne Westfall: Publish and raise money.

Robert Zimdahl: Those are the principle requirements?

Dwayne Westfall: In my opinion, those in my area are the principle requirements. Robert Zimdahl: And they weren't?

Dwayne Westfall: No. They weren't back in the ‘60s.

Robert Zimdahl: Why has that changed?

Dwayne Westfall: So much of the university funding is dependent upon external funds sources as the state support decreases. This is kind of a quote. If you want to succeed in research, that's the only way you can succeed, is external funding. The university will give you some startup money when you come in, but then it ends.

Robert Zimdahl: Do you think these young people know that?

Dwayne Westfall: I think they have an idea, but I don't think they really realize the gravity of the situation until it is in front of them.

Robert Zimdahl: Do most of the senior faculty in Agronomy teach now?

Dwayne Westfall: As far as I know, all of them do.

Robert Zimdahl: They do?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes.

Robert Zimdahl: And they ought to.

Dwayne Westfall: Absolutely. In fact, some of our best teachers are the senior faculty. For example, Ken Barbarick. He's now Associate Dean, but he still has that love and desire to teach, so he's still teaching.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. Did the students change during your 30 some years at the university?

Dwayne Westfall: I've been asked that before, and I don't think I can really say... I know that they're more technically equipped because of their high school education than they used to be. But, I think good people are good people. They always have been and always will be.

Robert Zimdahl: When you came to CSU I suspect that no faculty member in Agronomy was female?

Dwayne Westfall: That is correct.

Robert Zimdahl: Now, many are.

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Robert Zimdahl: Why has that happened?

Dwayne Westfall: There's two reasons, in my opinion. When I started to teach soil fertility, there were zero girls in soil fertility. My last year of teaching, I would say that 40% of the students in soil fertility were female. As that demography changed within our industry, there became women that were available and interested in becoming soil microbiologists and geneticists in agriculture. I think it had a lot to do with the market. First of all, there were very few females in the market in the 1960s. Today, there are a lot of females in the market. They compete very well, just like the men do.

Robert Zimdahl: Did it happen because of opportunities provided to the women? Or, just because the women took advantage of the situation?

Dwayne Westfall: I think it was mostly because women became interested and took advantage of the opportunities that were available to them.

Robert Zimdahl: It hadn't been available earlier?

Dwayne Westfall: It had been available, but there were no women to fill the availabilities.

Robert Zimdahl: What do you see as the role of the university in the community?

Dwayne Westfall: I think that's more a philosophical point that I really could give you a vanilla answer. You know, that to provide a good environment for people and be a positive impact upon the community. I think CSU has.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. But you don't have any further comment about that?

Dwayne Westfall: I don't really have any further comment about it.

Robert Zimdahl: It's not football.

Dwayne Westfall: It's what?

Robert Zimdahl: Not football.

Dwayne Westfall: No.

Robert Zimdahl: Have there been any community issues or national issues that have influenced your time at the university?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes, there has. The emphasis on environmental has moved me more from... When I first started, just making fertilizer recommendations and putting on the amount of fertilizer to maximize yield. To a philosophy that we need to optimize yield with environmental protection as one of the main factors in our decision‐ making process. Robert Zimdahl: That came as external influence not generated within?

Dwayne Westfall: Absolutely with external influence.

Robert Zimdahl: Should it have come more from us?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. It probably should have. I know a good example of this. Professor at Nebraska, I can't remember his name right now. He started talking about ground water pollution in the 1960s. In fact, he was a coworker with Dr. Gary Peterson. He was chastised very much for bringing that up because of the pressure that the fertilizer industry was putting on the university. I was chastised once, by my department head, for making a comment to a group of fertilizer people that sometimes you over recommend fertilizer.

Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative).

Dwayne Westfall: I mean.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah.

Dwayne Westfall: Everyone knows that happened, but still.

Robert Zimdahl: It was okay then.

Dwayne Westfall: Yeah.

Robert Zimdahl: Are you suggesting that perhaps we, in the discipline, failed?

Dwayne Westfall: In that area, we did for a time period. Then, we finally realized the negative impact that it could have. And then, we got on the boat and got with it.

Robert Zimdahl: That was good?

Dwayne Westfall: That's absolutely good.

Robert Zimdahl: Absolutely good. What do you see as the most significant changes in CSU over the last 30/40 years?

Dwayne Westfall: It's my opinion the most significant changes in CSU is the emphasis upon financial finances, upon grant support. The more grants you get, the better you are. A lot of times at the expense of what one of our major goals is, and that is education.

Robert Zimdahl: In other words, the pursuit of grant money detracts from education?

Dwayne Westfall: The pursuit of grant money can detract from teaching. Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). And it should not?

Dwayne Westfall: It should not.

Robert Zimdahl: Tell me your thoughts about the significance of the land‐grant university in our country?

Dwayne Westfall: Oh my goodness. The land‐grant university has had such a positive impact upon agriculture in the United States and the world. Without the forethought of the original writer of the Morrill Act and Smith‐Lever Act, we would not be the country that we are today.

Robert Zimdahl: Do all universities, land‐grant universities, differ? Should it differ from private universities?

Dwayne Westfall: I think, yes. It is different because we have the land‐grant mission. One of them is to serve agriculture.

Robert Zimdahl: Has that mission changed? Has it been diminished?

Dwayne Westfall: I don't think so. I think we are serving public. Not so much agriculture, but the population in general.

Robert Zimdahl: Looking ahead, you've been retired five years. What are the most significant issues facing CSU?

Dwayne Westfall: I think one of the significant issues is winning over the public's support for the new stadium that we are building, against the wishes of many people. I think that is a very positive step for our community and for our university.

Robert Zimdahl: The stadium is a positive step.

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. I am very in favor of that. I think it'll do great things for CSU.

Robert Zimdahl: So, it's a way to win public support?

Dwayne Westfall: Eventually, yes. It'll take a few years.

Robert Zimdahl: But that's one of the challenges. The university has to do what it takes to win public support?

Dwayne Westfall: Yes. That's one of the challenges they have to make.

Robert Zimdahl: Are there others?

Dwayne Westfall: There's always rowdy students and that is not good public relations. I don't know they... Robert Zimdahl: That's kids.

Dwayne Westfall: Yeah. I don't know how they approach that. I think that CSU has a generally very good relationship with the community. We are a very positive employer, good employer, very positive economic impact.

Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. The undie run, perhaps, is a good example.

Dwayne Westfall: Yeah.

Robert Zimdahl: Of what kids do.

Dwayne Westfall: That's right. They really respond to the administration's guidance.

Robert Zimdahl: Oh. They said, we're going to do it anyway.

Dwayne Westfall: That's right.

Robert Zimdahl: Dwayne, do you have any final comments?

Dwayne Westfall: I appreciate the opportunity to have this interview with you. I hope something good can come of this and it will add to the archives and the history of Colorado State University.