21 April 1999 Wrightson Chair in Seed Technology Established at Lincoln University

Seed scientist Dr John Hampton of the New Zealand Seed Technology Institute, Lincoln University, has been appointed to the country's first sponsored professorial chair in seed technology.

Dr Hampton becomes the Wrightson Professor of Seed Technology at the Lincoln University-based institute where he has been a staff member since June last year.

Formerly Associate Professor of Seed Technology at Massey University, Dr Hampton came to Lincoln to join colleagues after the New Zealand Seed Technology Institute was established there in February 1998.

Institute Director Professor Murray Hill welcomes the appointment and the sponsorship linkage with Wrightson.

"I see it as a public statement of industry support for the Institute's activities," he says. "And nationally it is a very important signal which underlines the seed industry's contribution to the economy and export earnings. Last year, for instance, some 25,000 tonnes of seed worth $60 million was exported.

"Wrightson, of course, are one of the biggest forces in the New Zealand seed industry and like Lincoln University the company has a strong heritage of working closely with farmers over many generations.

"Parent company Wright Stephenson was founded in Dunedin in 1868, just 10 years before Lincoln University's parent institution was established, so the two have grown up together. An alliance today in the seed area can only strengthen the role of both partners, so it's a welcome arrangement," says Professor Hill.

For Lincoln University's Vice-Chancellor, Dr Frank Wood, the sponsorship of the chair by Wrightson fits comfortably with his vision of closer university/industry ties.

"This is a time when alliances and capitalising on synergies are very important," he says. "Where there's complementarity, teaching and research institutions and leading technology-based businesses can both benefit immensely from collaboration.

"We are all part of the 'knowledge trifecta' – education, research, and technology transfer and application.

"The New Zealand Seed Technology Institute at Lincoln University is committed to education, training, technology transfer, consultancy, quality assurance and research – goals which reflect the direction of the University as a whole. And we do all of those things not for their own sake but to ensure that we optimise our contribution to the 'real world', a world represented by industry and commerce and companies such as Wrightson.

"As technology cycles quicken and as international competition intensifies, traditional boundaries will become blurred, and this new sponsored chair is a tangible example of how connectedness can be achieved," says Dr Wood.

Wrightson Chief Executive Dr Allan Freeth says the company is proud to be associated with Lincoln University and the New Zealand Seed Technology Institute.

"The sponsored chair further strengthens our long and valued relationship with the University," he says.

"Our links with Lincoln are wide and varied and include our many staff members who are alumni, our business relationships and support of ventures such as the recent Agribusiness Conference in Christchurch and the Young Farmer of the Year programme.

"But the most important reason why we have such a good 'fit' with Lincoln is that we share a common vision of adding long term, sustainable value to the outputs of the land," says Dr Freeth.

"The University's strong focus on its areas of strength and comparative advantage in science and business echoes Wrightson's belief that we must develop our intellectual capital and find innovative answers to the many challenges facing New Zealand farmers, growers, processors and marketers."

The foundation Wrightson Professor of Seed Technology, John Hampton, sees the creation of the chair as a very positive contribution to the stature of the New Zealand Seed Technology Institute both academically and commercially.

"It's a golden opportunity to further connect with one of the top names in the rural service sector," he says.

"Wrightson have already demonstrated their confidence in the Institute and its activities by entering into a contract for their seed testing requirements. There will now also be opportunities for activities ranging from co-operative research and student scholarship support to providing seed technology training for Wrightson staff both in this country and Australia."

An agricultural science graduate of Lincoln with a doctorate in agronomy from Nottingham University, Professor Hampton has had over 20 years of teaching and research experience in seed production, seed vigour and pathology, and seed quality management and assurance.

He is an accredited member of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) and has had consultancy experience in Iran, China, Brazil and Russia. He chairs the ISTA Vigour Test Committee and is Editor of the Journal of Applied Seed Production. He is the author of over 200 scientific papers, four books and numerous chapters in books edited by others. As a university academic he has been chief supervisor or second supervisor of many doctoral and masters degree candidates.

His personal research interests are the production of quality seed, herbage seed production, seed vigour, seed pathology, seed quality management and seed quality assurance.

Professor Hampton is 48, and was born in Hamilton.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand

Dr Allan Freeth, Chief Executive Officer, Wrightson Ltd., Wellington, New Zealand