By Heather Danforth
Dr. Allen Christensen”s desire to make a difference is what brought him out of retirement late last year to accept the directorship of BYU”s Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Food Institute.
“I wondered, ”what can I do so when they preach my funeral sermon they won”t tell lies?”” he said.
Christensen”s addition to BYU faculty is a welcome one, according to many faculty members.
“It”s a delight working with him,” said Benson Institute Associate Director Luis Espinoza. “It”s a delight to have someone who understands international work to the depth he does.”
Dean of Biology and Agriculture Kent Crooksten, who made the decision to hire Christensen, agreed.
“He has a remarkable background of experience as an administrator,” Crooksten said. “You don”t have people with that kind of experience applying for low-level administrative jobs. He surprised us when he applied; we almost thought he had too much experience.”
The Benson Institute is a privately supported, non-profit organization with offices in Morocco, Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia and Ghana, as well as at BYU.
It was founded 26 years ago when President Ezra Taft Benson agreed to give his name to an institute that would aid both BYU faculty and students in researching and implementing technology to help the poor in developing nations.
“There are still a lot of hungry people in the world who are not able to achieve their divinely-given potential because their bodies are not adequately nourished,” Christensen said. The institute was founded to help these people.
Christensen”s credentials for the position include a bachelor”s, a master”s and a doctorate in animal science.
Also on his resume are more than 30 years of teaching and administration experience. He served as acting provost and academic vice president at California Polytechnic University in Pomona, Calif., as a member of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and as a member of the Joint Committee for Agriculture Research and Development for the USAID Administration, among other things.
But the experiences that do not show up on his resume have been even more important to his development, Christensen said.
Reading, especially biographies of world leaders, and observing during his world travels have given Christensen unique insight. He has traveled to more than 50 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the South Pacific and Latin America.
Life has allowed him to “build a reservoir of impressions and experiences,” he said.
“When I first started to travel, my mother and dad handed me a journal,” Christensen said. “Since the thirtieth of April, 1973, I”ve recorded in great detail the things I”ve observed, the people I”ve met and the things I”ve learned. Now I”m on my twenty-fourth volume.”
To students who, like himself, want to make a difference in the world, Christensen says to “get an advanced degree in a field where there”s demand, marry someone who”s a bit adventuresome, and realize that the Lord has a lot of interesting people scattered all across the planet.”
Christensen also recommends accepting opportunities as they come.
“Most of the time, opportunity isn”t convenient,” he said. “Service requires some sacrifice, but it”s ultimately satisfying.”
Christensen is excited about the opportunity to serve at the Benson Institute.
“It”s exciting and challenging,” he said. “I wake up early and I”m anxious to get to work. I think working here is the capstone experience in my life.”
