The Ohio State University

Karl Danneberger was named the recipient of the 2009 Global Turfgrass Award, given to an individual that "has made a significant contribution to the global turfgrass industry".

Professor Danneberger got his BS from Purdue, his MS from The University of Illinois and his PhD from Michigan State University. He joined the OSU faculty in 1983 and has a teaching:research appointment.  His most recent accolade was the Fred V. Grau Award, given by The American Society of Agronomy in 2004 and he was named a Fulbright Scholar in 2008. His research focus is predominantly in turfgrass pathology and stress physiology.

For the last twenty five years, Karl has taught hundreds of turfgrass science students, many of whom are now superintendents or field managers around the world. His research efforts have resulted in many scientific papers and a book.  It was Karl that pioneered the Buckeye Turf Website, Podcast series, and Online Golf Management Certificate.  Most recently this effort has become truly international, with turfgrass podcasts and websites in Spanish , Portugese , Czech and Polish, and the launch of the Global Turf Network .

In addition to teaching, research and technology development, Karl travels to many countries each year as a guest speaker to talk to students and industry professionals. His most recent travels have included: England, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Dubai, Australia, South Africa, Japan, China, Chile, and Canada. 

Previous recipients of The Ohio State University's Global Turgrass Award have included:  Martyn Jones, NTF (2005), Mike O'Keeffe, OSU International Internship Program (2006), Dave Saltman, Pitchcare (2007), and Dr. Stephen Baker, STRI (2008)

PS: Those of you that would like to see the out-takes of the photograph above, go to the Ohio State Turf Group on Facebook