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soybeans and safflower as the main ones. Then our bean breeder re red in about 1987 and I really took the breeding to the field and the cooperators across the prairies." A er this me, the corn breeder re red and Muendel was asked to take that area over instead and the bean breeding was carried out by another colleague who expanded the program with advanced tes ng over the next eight years, at which me Muendel took the program over again un l his re rement. "In 1998, we released the first dry bean variety from our program," he noted. "I am told that now APG Chair D'Arcy Hilgartner presents Dr. Muendel with the Alberta Pulse Industry Innovator Award on Jan. 31, 2018. over 90% of the beans grown in southern Alberta are from our program, including some of those that were released a er I re red that were in the pipeline. Almost the whole varietal picture is out of our Lethbridge program now." He con nued: "Many beans have a very narrow range la tude-wise and even just environment-wise. The U.S. varie es that were grown here before were all really pushing the maturity limits – they were in the late to too late stage. Locally bred you can select for that. Our main emphasis was on ge ng early maturing and then ge ng it upright to reduce the diseases like white mould associated with wet feet. We certainly improved on what was there in the late '90s versus now." Muendel re red from what was then called the Lethbridge Research Centre in 2007. He said that it was his pleasure to be involved in hiring his successor, Dr. Parthiba Balasubramanian, as he made his own re rement plans. Re rement hasn't slowed down Muendel, who lives near Lethbridge with his wife, Bev. He is involved with the Rotary Club and genealogy, as well as con nuing to travel. The couple also enjoys spending me with their three children and four grandchildren. Dr. Muendel on a fact finding mission in Mexico City Central Market "The scope of Muendel's accomplishments is best exemplified by his record of publications in journals and his leadership role on research committees and projects." 1 8