Oklahoma State University: OSU Agriculture Names Charles Chen 2021 Whatley Award Recipient

Press release from Oklahoma State University:

2022-01-24

Oklahoma State University’s Charles Chen has been named the 2021 recipient of the university’s James A. Whatley Award for
Meritorious Service in Agricultural Sciences.

Initiated in 1982, the award is presented annually by the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and recognizes outstanding research contributions to the advancement of agricultural
sciences.

A former scientist for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Chen
joined the faculty in 2015 as an assistant professor in bioinformatics for the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Chen’s exemplary cutting-edge research is in line with the vision of the James Whatley
Award, said Thomas G. Coon, vice president and dean of OSU Agriculture.

“His research projects apply directly to issues of major agricultural importance,
such as wheat improvement and drought resistance in crops,” he said. “Dr. Chen takes
pride in scientific collaboration and requires an interdisciplinary approach for most
all his projects, which has resulted in award-winning research and agricultural advancement.”

Chen is the first principal investigator at OSU who has been funded via an industrial
partnership to establish the newest or third-generation nucleic acid sequencing technology,
said John Gustafson, head of the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

“Dr. Chen is truly a one of a kind in biochemistry and molecular biology, and it is
not easy to find scientists with his elevated level of statistical, computational
and biology expertise,” Gustafson said. “In his time at OSU, I have watched Dr. Chen
establish an incredibly vibrant well-staffed and well-funded laboratory, which applies
advanced sequencing technologies, statistical genetics and bioinformatics to answer
various research questions.”

Since joining OSU, Chen has authored or co-authored 39 peer-reviewed publications,
including numerous additional manuscripts and a book chapter. His work appears in
journals such as Heredity, Plant Journal, Plant Physiology and Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. In addition, he has produced computational algorithms
and databases, which are utilized by investigators across the world.

Student training also is a strong point for Chen. In the past three years, Chen has
organized an international weekly meeting for graduate students, postdoctoral students
and principal investigators to provide training opportunities that no single laboratory
could offer. His guidance has played a significant role in helping many students achieve
success in their research and career aspirations.

Chen earned a doctorate in quantitative genetics from the University of British Columbia
in 2009.

“We are on the edge of the fastest and most consequential disruption in food security
and long-term agricultural sustainability,” Chen said. “This time around the ‘second
domestication’ will be primarily driven by precision agriculture that can intelligently
integrate algorithms and biotechnologies to design and program cells, organisms and
the agro-ecosystems. This recognition of the Whatley award also marks OSU and the
Ferguson College of Agriculture’s leadership in transforming research and education
for the future of agriculture.”

Whatley, in whose name the award is presented, was an animal geneticist who became
director of the statewide Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station system and dean
of the division, which is comprised of the OSU Ferguson College of Agriculture and two state agencies: OSU Extension and OSU Ag Research. Whatley served OSU for 41 years.

This press release was produced by Oklahoma State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.