Entomologist named distinguished professor
GREENBRIER — It’s not uncommon for Gus Lorenz to receive 70 calls a day from clientele seeking his counsel about insect pest management on their farms. The extension entomologist and professor at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture now has a new title: distinguished professor.
“I’m very honored and flattered. That’s kind of what you aspire to — to develop a program and be recognized for your contributions,” Lorenz said.
Distinguished professor is a high honor reserved only for the very best faculty members at a college or university in recognition of sustained excellence in the performance of their duties.
The honor makes Lorenz only more passionate about his job.
“I want to continue to address the needs of agriculture and effective insect management to the state of Arkansas and to provide as much support and help [as possible] to the state and growers in Arkansas,” he said. “There’s always room for improvement.”
Lorenz’s responsibilities include providing growers with practical and economical pest management.
“In this time of the year,” Lorenz said, “I get 50, 80, up to 90 calls a day from people asking about their insect pest problems.”
He said he especially likes the diversity he has in his job.
“It’s constantly changing, depending on what the situation is,” he said.
However, his focus has always been to work on better solutions for pest management for cotton, rice, soybeans and other row crops.
Lorenz was raised on a farm and has always had an interest in agriculture. However, he didn’t know he was going to be an entomologist.
“Not a lot of kids want to be ‘the bug guy,’” he said. He thought he was going to be a veterinarian but realized that wasn’t his passion.
He took an entomology class and liked it, but it was not until he got to apply what he had learned in the classroom to the field — working a summer job as a cotton scout — that he realized he had found his passion.
In 1985, Lorenz started with the Extension Service as a Jefferson County agent. He then became the soybean-verification coordinator, the soybean- and wheat-verification coordinator, and the cotton-verification coordinator.
He went back to school to earn a doctorate in entomology at the University of Arkansas, then returned as extension entomologist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. He’s now in his 30th year with the Cooperative Extension Service.
He lives in Greenbrier with Barbara, his wife of 37 years, and a son, Bradley, who just started a job as an accountant after graduating from the University of Arkansas. In Lorenz’s free time, he enjoys duck hunting, turkey hunting and reading.
Besides the distinguished professor award, Lorenz has received an Award for Outstanding Specialist from the Arkansas Association of Extension Specialists; recognition for support of the programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; recognition for a Stink Bug Educational Program from Riceland Foods; and a John White Award for Distinguished Service to the U of A System Division of Agriculture and other honors.
To learn more about crop production, visit www.uaex.edu, or contact a local county extension office.