By Jim Stafford
Business Writer
As printed in The Oklahoman, October 21, 2008.

For years, Richard Dixon has directed a corps of scientists at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation working to improve plants for use as animal forage or energy sources.

As director of the Noble Foundation's plant biology division, Dixon's work in lignin attracted little attention outside the community of researchers until the nation discovered a thirst for alternative energy sources.

"The ironic thing is that nobody has been hugely interested in plant natural products for many years," Dixon said. "But as soon as the bioenergy business caught on, all of a sudden lots of people want to give us money."

How research helped
Today, Dixon's work with lignin is funded in part by several grants that target distinct efforts to develop bioenergy fuels from the sugars of plants such as switchgrass and alfalfa. Lignin is the structural component that defines the cell walls of plants.

Grants from the Energy Department and the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center fuel the Noble bioenergy research. Noble scientists are working to modify plants so they will more easily yield their sugar content for use in the bioenergy process.

For his extensive work in plant biology, Dixon has been named the Oklahoma Scientist of the Year by the Oklahoma Academy of Science. He will receive the honor at the academy's annual technical meeting Oct. 31 at Southern Nazarene University.

"I'm truly honored to be recognized by my peers in Oklahoma," Dixon said. "I have had the great privilege of working with some of today's brightest scientific minds during the last two decades at the Noble Foundation."

Background to award
Dixon is author of more than 360 scientific papers and was recognized in 2002 by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the 15 most cited authors in plant and animal sciences worldwide. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 2007.

"Richard Dixon's efforts, innovations and exceptional scientific mind make him one of the best plant scientists in the world," said Michael Cawley, president and chief executive of the Noble Foundation.

"His leadership and vision have helped develop and sustain our Plant Biology Division, and his mentorship has sparked the careers of countless scientists in this country and many others."

Dixon joined the Noble Foundation as founding director of the Plant Biology Division in 1988.

This article appeared in The Oklahoman, www.newsok.com, on October 21, 2008.