Ohio Ag Council inducts four into hall of fame at Ohio State Fair

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Agricultural Council will induct William L. Ingalls, Tom McNutt, Michael L. Wagner and Paul L. Wright into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame, Aug. 11 at the Rhodes Youth Center at the Ohio State Fair.
The 41st annual Agricultural Hall of Fame breakfast will attract 500 guests to honor these four professionals for their lifetime service, dedication, leadership and contributions to the Ohio agricultural industry.
Ingalls. A 1936 graduate of Columbus West High School, Ingalls has distinguished himself through more than 60 years of work in veterinary medicine. With several degrees from Ohio State University, Ingalls began his career as the assistant state pathologist at the Ohio Department of Agriculture laboratories.
From 1947 to 1951, Ingalls was the director of the Ohio State University veterinary diagnostic laboratory and faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of pathology. He joined the Columbus Serum Company in 1951 and worked for 23 years, retiring from there as a vice president.
The Columbus Serum Company produced hog cholera vaccines which were used in the successful eradication of hog cholera from the U.S. in 1978. After retiring from The Columbus Serum Company, he returned to OSU and was the swine extension veterinarian for 12 years before reaching mandatory retirement in 1988.
After officially retiring from OSU, he continues to divide his time between OSU and the Pickaway County Health Department where he served as health commissioner from 1988 to 1993.
He continues to serve the College of Veterinary Medicine at OSU to the present day as professor emeritus.
A resident of Reynoldsburg, Ingalls and his wife Maybelle Lee, who is deceased, have two daughters Carol Bear and Susan James.
McNutt. A native of Dunkirk, Ohio, in Hardin County, McNutt has provided leadership for more than 50 years in cooperative extension, agricultural cooperatives and trade associations. Today, he actively promotes horticulture through his on-air work with NBC4, WCMH.
McNutt holds two degrees from Ohio State University. After graduation from OSU, McNutt taught vocational agriculture at Belle Center and later and Dublin. For more than 20 years he worked with 4-H programs and served as the Franklin County extension agent for nearly 20 years, overseeing the Franklin County Fair and many local programs.
In addition, he served in part-time capacities as executive director of the Ohio Council of Farmer Cooperatives for 15 years and executive director of the Ohio Agricultural Council for 10 years.
He is well-known throughout the central Ohio community for his witty and educational reports as the agriculture-horticulture and gardening reporter on NBC4.
McNutt and his wife, Joan, have four grown children and live in Hilliard.
Wagner. A 1958 graduate of Fairfield High School, Wagner has earned local, state, national and international recognition for advocacy for agriculture, especially for the corn industry, for more than 40 years.
Studying agricultural economics and animal science at Ohio State University, Wagner earned his bachelor of science degree in 1963. He began his career as an organization director for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and later worked for the Illinois Farm Bureau where he managed the dairy marketing program and helped develop the Illinois Corn Growers Association from a small area to a statewide organization with a corn marketing checkoff.
After a brief time with the Florida Farm Bureau, Wagner returned to Ohio to manage the Ohio Corn Growers Association. Before he retired in 2005, he had grown the organization to more the 2,000 members.
Under his leadership, the corn growers planned and directed the successful creation the corn checkoff in 1989, resulting in the Ohio Corn Marketing Program. With Wagner’s guidance, the program has invested more than $20 million in projects and program in education, market development, promotion and research to increase corn usage in Ohio and nationally.
As chair of Gov. Taft’s biofuels and renewable energy task force, Wagner oversaw an effort to bring more alternative energy to Ohio, working to champion the use and manufacturer of ethanol in Ohio.
Wagner has two children, Michael and Amanda, and he and his wife, Carolyn, live in Marion.
Wright. A 1956 graduate of Union High School, Wright has distinguished himself as a leader in agricultural law for more than 47 years. Studying agricultural economics and education, he earned two degrees from Ohio State University and later received his juris doctorate from the University of Toledo Law School.
He began his career in Wilmington, Ohio, where he worked from 1959 to 1964 as the county 4-H agent. From 1965 to 1979 he was the area extension agent, farm management in Fremont, moving to the position of extension economist, agricultural law and associate professor, where he served until 1988.
In 1988, he founded Wright Law Co., LPA, a firm dedicated to the legal needs of the agricultural community. Recognized by many agricultural, legal and civic organizations, Wright has served on a number of state and national boards and is also active in the Northwest United Methodist Church.
Wright and his wife, Sue, live Dublin and have two adult children, David and Debra Wright.
For information or tickets to the Agricultural Hall of Fame induction ceremony, contact Jane Scott at 614-476-3624 or janeannscott@aol.com.