Stanley Zontek Given Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award
Several years ago, the faculty of the Department Crop and Soil Sciences at Penn State created the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award, to honor one outstanding alumnus each year. The task of selecting a recipient of this award is difficult due to the many outstanding alums of our department. Some of our graduates include entrepreneurs, scientists, teachers, humanitarians, successful farmers, land use planners, not to mention some of the best golf course superintendents in the country
This year, a committee of Department faculty met to review nominations for the award; and it is fitting that in 2007, the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (formerly Agronomy Department), we present the award to someone who has devoted much of his life to helping his fellow man. It’s with great pleasure that we present this year’s Department of Crop and Soil Science Outstanding Alumni Award to Mr. Stanley Zontek.
Stanley is originally from Clarksburg, West VA, and is the son of a golf course superintendent. Stanley’s introduction to Penn State came in the late 1950’s when Dr. Burt Musser visited Stanley’s father while he was installing the first ‘Penncross’ green in West VA.
Stanley then moved with his family to Rockville, MD where he took his first golf course job, making $1.10 per hour raking bunkers. In 1964, Stanley’s family moved to Southeastern PA, where his father was overseeing a large construction project at White Manor Country Club. Here he met Dr. Joe Duich, who was on a trip to collect Kentucky Bluegrasses in the area.
Stanley enrolled at the Ogontz Campus of Penn State in 1966, and then transferred to University Park shortly after. He wanted to become a history teacher or a golf course golf course superintendent; and he eventually decided to pursue a career in turfgrass management. He was employed at the Valentine Turfgrass Research Center during the summer of 1970, working with Dr. Duich on various research projects. Around that time, Mr. Al Radko of the USGA called Dr. Duich and asked if he could recommend an agronomist for an opening with the USGA in the Northeast Region. Dr. Duich recommended Stanley, and shortly after he graduated in 1970, he was hired by the USGA as a northeast regional agronomist.
Stanley quickly moved up through the ranks and became Director of the Northeast Region in 1976, then Director of the North Central Region from 1980 to 1985, and finally, Director of the Mid-Atlantic region, where he has served since 1985.
Stanley is a highly sought after speaker, and has spoken at innumerable state, national, and international meetings and symposia (including the Penn State Golf Turf Conference, where he has been on the program every year, except one, since 1985).
Stanley has written hundreds of articles on a wide spectrum of subject matter in golf turf management for newsletters, magazines, and conference proceedings. His opinions and expertise on golf course renovation, construction, and design are valued by club officials, superintendents, and even well-known golf course architects.
Everywhere he goes, Stanley is well-known and respected. He is a diplomat for the golf turf management profession; and in a field known for long hours and grueling schedules, Stanley is a tireless worker, devoting countless hours to report writing, answering phone calls and emails, and making site visits. What sets him apart is that he does his job with such grace and passion.
We present Stanley this award for his unending efforts to help thousands of golf course superintendents all over the world with everyday problems and sometimes with huge career-changing challenges.