Gregory McKee, director of NDSU's Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives, and American Crystal Sugar Co. are set to host the 23rd annual Bloomquist Lecture Wednesday, April 29, at 7 a.m. at the Holiday Inn, Fargo.
The keynote speaker will be William Nelson, vice president for corporate citizenship at CHS Inc., president of the CHS Foundation and a member of the Cooperative Hall of Fame.
His presentation, "Investing in Our Futures," will include the history of cooperative education; current relationships between cooperative businesses, professional groups and universities to invest in cooperative education; opportunities for investment in future cooperative education; and the role of education in agricultural sustainability.
Nelson serves on the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives' Executive Education Committee and the board of the National Cooperative Business Association. He is board vice chair for the Ralph K. Morris Foundation and chair of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives Advisory Committee.
He is a founding member and immediate past board chair of the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America; and vice chair of the STEM Food and Ag Council. Nelson is a board member of the Farm Foundation, a member of the Farm Foundation Roundtable and serves on the eXtension Foundation Leadership Council.
He has undergraduate degrees from the University of Minnesota, Morris, and graduate degrees from the University of St. Thomas and the University of Houston. He served as a faculty member and administrator in the University of Minnesota for 13 years, prior to joining what is now CHS in 1992.
Nelson earned the Honorary American Farmer Degree, and will be inducted into the U.S. National Cooperative Hall of Fame at the National Press Club in May.
The lecture is scheduled to be held in the Royale Hall. Breakfast will be provided. RSVP to Gregory McKee at 701-231-8521 or gregory.mckee@ndsu.edu no later than April 22.
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