2015 Bruce Cottington Award

Ed Frederick has provided a lifetime of leadership and service to his local community along with numerous state and national organizations. He is respected for his passion and outstanding contributions to dairy, agriculture, and natural resources.

Ed grew up on a livestock and dairy farm in Madison Lake, and has been one of the state’s greatest champions of agricultural education. He received three degrees from the University of Minnesota – a bachelor’s in agricultural education, and a master’s and Ph.D. in dairy husbandry. His first position was at the Northwest School and Experiment Station, Crookston, where he taught and was the head of the dairy and livestock department. In 1964, he became superintendent of the Southern School of Agriculture and Southern Experiment Station in Waseca.

In 1969 he was chosen as Chancellor to lead a new two-year agriculture college, the University of Minnesota-Waseca campus. In 1990 he became a senior fellow at the University. As a senior fellow, he led a study on the university’s role in rural development, worked on several community rural development projects, and advised the university on its ag programs.

Ed was one of the founding members of the Minnesota Dairy Leaders Roundtable in 1992. He continued to provide his leadership and facilitated the organization through retirement in June 2013.