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FeedMcFerson receives Silver Apple
Silver Apple recipient Jim McFerson.
Geraldine Warner
Dr. Jim McFerson, manager of the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission for the past 12 years, received the Washington State Horticultural Association’s silver apple award.
Presenting the award, retiring Hort Association president West Mathison said McFerson headed the development of the Washington Tree Fruit Technology Roadmap, which became a national effort to attract more federal funding for research on specialty crops, including tree fruits.
McFerson has worked for the good of the tree fruit industry, he added, and future generations would benefit from his leadership. Industry people have commented on his keen intellect and vision, and his remarkable ability to draw together widely different people into common goals and fully engage them so they feel they are true contributors.
McFerson has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s in horticulture from Texas A & M. After earning a doctorate in plant breeding and genetics from the University of Wisconsin in 1982, he worked as a vegetable breeder for a seed company. He was research geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricutural Research Service at Cornell University in Geneva, New York, from 1989 until joining the Research Commission.
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