OFA Facilitating Jack Williams Scholarship Fund

By Greenhouse Grower staff|January 7, 2011

OFA is facilitating a scholarship fund in the memory of the late Jack Williams, the trusted and beloved technical advisor at Ecke Ranch who died last October. OFA will manage the fund as part of its OFA Scholars Program.

Williams, who served Ecke Ranch for 26 years, also played an integral role in grower education at OFA, which he served on the board of directors and the grower committee throughout his career. He spent 15 years on the grower committee, including about 10 of which he served as either chair or co-chair.

On the grower committee, Williams was instrumental in developing new concepts, keeping programs fresh and introducing new talent to the OFA Short Course speaking lineup. He also developed the grower interactive session as an on-the-fly, hot-topic session, and he was a great facilitator of meetings.

In addition to his grower committee work, Williams wrote articles for the OFA Bulletin and chapters for the OFA Tips book series. He also spoke at Short Course on numerous occasions, as well as other outreach education workshops on behalf of OFA.

Among the industry companies that have committed to start the scholarship fund in Williams’ memory are Suntory Flowers, Ball Seed, D.S. Cole Growers, Greenhouse Grower, Ecke Ranch, OFA and the OFA board of directors.