Fund strengthens college’s efforts to help students, assist producers

Contributions by Victor McMurry to the Dean’s Excellence Fund is helping researchers in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources address agricultural issues facing Wyoming residents. 

McMurry, a Phoenix resident, is recipient of this year’s Legacy Award.

“This generous support from Vic McMurry is the lead gift for the Dean’s Excellence Fund in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources,” says Dean Frank Galey. “Thanks to Vic, the college will be able to pursue new initiatives to address important issues facing Wyoming’s agriculture, renewable resource base and rural communities.”

Although his father was in the construction business, McMurry chose to attend the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

He transferred to UW from Casper College in fall 1967 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in farm and ranch management in 1970.

“It was a wonderful place. I was entirely comfortable,” says McMurry, “and it’s now even more focused on trying to provide what people across the state need. The UW College of Ag is the top in the country as far as I’m concerned.”

The fund supports speaker presentations, panel discussions, guest lectures, short courses and public forums that make science-based information available to the public.

The college’s scope is much broader than might be realized – in addition to traditional areas of animal, plant and veterinary science, the college encompasses applied economics, ag communications, family and consumer sciences, microbiology and molecular biology, renewable resources and the Wyoming Reclamation and Restoration Center.

“I asked Frank, ‘What do you need?” says McMurry. “I wanted to help provide funds utilized by people on the ground, where it would do the most good. Every generation has to do their part as part of the human race. I learned that from my father.”

Land use, stewardship of natural resources, community development and sustainability are issues at the forefront in Wyoming. The Dean’s Excellence Fund helps addresses these challenges through research and outreach. 

“I think Frank Galey is doing a great job,” says McMurry. “He is a great asset to the university and to the College of Ag, and he’s truly someone I’ve enjoyed getting to know. The goal of the college is to create vibrant sustainable rural communities in order to ‘Build the Wyoming We Want,’ and the Dean’s Excellence Fund is a huge step in the right direction.”

This article is courtesy of the University of Wyoming.