12/07/2004

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Public Invited to Remember Ben Stinner Saturday, Dec. 11, at OARDC

Writer:

Kurt Knebusch
knebusch.1@osu.edu
330-263-3776

Source:

Casey Hoy
hoy.1@osu.edu
330-263-3611

WOOSTER, Ohio — A special memorial service for Benjamin R. Stinner, an Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center scientist and the holder of Ohio State University’s W.K. Kellogg Foundation-endowed chair in ecological management, will be held Saturday, Dec. 11, 1 to 4 p.m., in the Shisler Conference Center on OARDC’s Wooster campus, 1680 Madison Ave.

Friends, staff, students, faculty and members of the public are invited to attend.

Stinner, who was 50, died Nov. 23 in a car accident in Wooster. He is survived by his wife, Deborah, coordinator of OARDC’s Organic Food and Farming Education and Research program, and their children, Kristina and Jed.

A resident of Smithville, a native of Lykens, Pa., and an international leader in agroecology and sustainable agriculture, Stinner “was a visionary individual whose ideas and thoughts impacted all who came in contact with him, personally and professionally,” said OARDC Director Steve Slack.

Included in the service will be music, photographs and videotape of Stinner, speakers who will share their memories of him, and a reception for all in attendance. Hand-written remembrances — on high-quality paper with margins of at least 1.5 inches — may be dropped off at the service or sent to Luis Cañas, Department of Entomology, OSU/OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave.

Donations to the Ben Stinner Endowment for Healthy Agroecosystems and Sustainable Communities may be dropped off at the service as well. The newly initiated endowment aims “to continue Ben’s life work in agroecology, sustainable agriculture and sustainable communities.” Call (330) 287-1321 for more information.

“Ben had a clear and compelling vision: agroecosystems that preserve high environmental quality, that sustain the health of and social connections among people, and that do so by efficient recycling of natural resources and social capital rather than through the infusion of external inputs,” according to a statement about the endowment provided by Casey Hoy, a friend and colleague of Stinner’s and the associate chairman of his home department, Entomology.

“(Ben) had an extraordinary ability to work with faculty, staff, students, farmers, community leaders and other stakeholders toward a common purpose,” the statement said. “His leadership transcended all institutional boundaries, and he freely promoted leadership abilities in others. This endowment will provide the resources to ensure continued work that promotes healthy and sustainable relationships between communities and the land, and to nurture and promote leadership in those involved.”

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