Born and raised on a western Kansas farm and ranch, Curtis has spent his lifetime in agriculture. He graduated from Kansas State Univ. with a BS in Agronomy and from Texas A&M Univ. with an MS in Plant Breeding. For the past 10 years, he has served as the Research Manager for Beck’s Superior Hybrids overseeing the breeding, variety testing and foundation seed production functions. Previous to this, he has spent time with DEKALB/Monsanto in corn breeding and biotech regulatory sciences/affairs, with a short line ag equipment manufacturer as a territory sales manager and with a startup ag biotech company focused on engineering crops to make cellulosic ethanol. He has volunteered his time to the ASTA cause on various committees and working groups, chaired the National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders and now the Seed Science Foundation.