Asunta (Susie) Thompson is the winner of the 2012 NPPGA Meritorious Service Award.
It was presented to her at NPPGA's annual banquet. This comes on the heals of winning a Meritorious Service Award from the National Potato Council in January.
Dr. Thompson is considered one of the top potato breeders in the country. In the past eight years, Thompson has released four new commercial varieties.
They include chipping varieties Dakota Pearl, Dakota Crisp, and Dakota Diamond; and most recently the Dakota Trailblazer, the first frozen processing variety to be released from North Dakota State University (NDSU).
Dr. Neil Gumestad, Professor of Plant Pathology at NDSU says this about his colleague: "We are extremely fortunate that Dr. Thompson works at NDSU and in our region so that our producers can tap into this fountain of knowledge and expertise."
Thompson's work goes beyond the development of new varieties. She is a professor at NDSU, and a guest lecturer. She belongs to several professional societies, is the author or co-author of hundreds of publications, and the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
Dr. Thompson is a key collaborator in the North Central Breeding and Genetics group which is a four state interaction of the North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan breeding programs. She is also a key contributor to the National Chip Processing Trials as well as the National Fry Processing Trials that is supported by the U.S. Potato Board. Far from retirement age, her body of work speaks for itself.
Source: NPPGA News