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Note to editors: A photo of Mostafa Qrunfleh is available by contacting K-State Research and Extension news coordinator Mary Lou Peter-Blecha at 785-532-1164 or mlpeter@ksu.edu. Released: February 16, 2007 Former K-State Student Is Ag Minister of Jordan MANHATTAN, Kan. – A former Kansas State University student, Mostafa Qrunfleh, is now the Minster of Agriculture in Jordan. Prior to taking that post late in 2006, he was the vice president for administrative affairs at the University of Jordan (2005-2006). A native of Jaffa, Palestine, Qrunfleh earned a bachelor’s degree from Cairo University in 1969, a master’s degree from the University of California-Davis in 1979 and a Ph.D. in horticulture at K-State in 1982. He had been a professor at the University of Jordan since 1993. He served as head of the plant production department for two years (1995-1997) and as the vice dean of agriculture for six years (1997-2002) before being appointed dean in 2003. In an email interview, Qrunfleh credited his former K-State advisor, the late Professor Ron Campbell, as well as the education that he received at K-State, for the successes he’s had in his career as a lecturer, researcher and graduate advisor. He said his experience in Kansas helped shape his career, and that he looks forward to returning to the state. In addition, Qrunfleh said he remembered the native limestone buildings that are so much a part of the Manhattan area, because they are similar to those of Amman, Jordan. One of the agriculture minister’s four children, his daughter Abeer, was born in Manhattan and currently lives in Michigan. His son Issam is working toward a Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and another son, Sufian, is working toward Ph.D. in Ohio. A third son, Ghassan, works as a registrar at Hashmeia University in Jordan. -30- K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan. Story by: |