Auburn University has awarded Daniel Wells, associate professor of horticulture, with its Elbert A. and Barbara L. Botts Endowed Professorship, effective this month. The appointment is for 33 months, January 2024-September 2026.
Wells has served at Auburn since 2014, when he joined the faculty as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 2020.
“Dr. Wells was strongly recommended for the Botts Professorship based on his track record of excellence in teaching, research and service,” said Paul Patterson, dean of the College of Agriculture. “His work in all three of these areas is evident through projects like the Rane Culinary Center rooftop garden, the vertical farms and our college’s partnership with Campus Dining. Through these efforts and others, he is engaging students, advancing research and benefiting our campus community in a variety of ways.”
Wells has been instrumental in the installation and management of both hydroponic and aquaponics systems at Auburn, including two vertical farms, in which shipping containers are used to grow vegetable crops for university dining facilities. He also led efforts to install a campus rooftop garden, where fruit and vegetable crops are grown 12 months of the year to supply the university’s culinary center. Wells has engaged students in each of these and similar efforts.
The Botts Endowed Professorship was established in 2003 for the purpose of providing funds for excellence in the College of Agriculture to benefit student and faculty programs in the Department of Horticulture.
“I consider it a privilege to have received the Elbert A. and Barbara L. Botts Endowed Professorship,” Wells said. “I hope to honor the Botts family by continuing to serve the Department of Horticulture, the College of Agriculture and Auburn University to the best of my ability.”
