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Dennis Murphy

For the students, by the students

David Lehman: Ag Econ and More
Christian Prosser, Corner Post Staff

Dec. 9, 2003 -- In 201 Mumford Hall, a hard-working son of Abilene, Kansas, builds knowledge and futures for students. Looking into Professor David Lehman’s office, one of the more apparent things is the shear quantity of books. This professor of Ag Econ may not have read all of them, but he's definitely the man to see if you have any questions about internships.

Lehman grew up on a farm with responsibility from an early age. "We worked a lot," Lehman said. "I had livestock from the time I was eight years old."

His father was a Navy Seabee and went into construction after 4 years of enlisted service. His mother was a church secretary in addition to being a mother of 5. Sharing the same hometown as President Dwight Eisenhower, Lehman took him as a sort of role model. Imaginably, a few of the books in the office are biographies of Eisenhower.

Lehman was the second oldest of the family with brothers Roger, Tom, and Mike; along with sister Sandy. "Once in a while we'd play football in the front yard." As the second oldest, David, took care of his youngest brother Mike, who now races cars on an amateur level.

Lehman went to Kansas State University and graduated with a BS in agricultural economics. He currently teaches Ag Econ 223 (Ag Sales), and Ag Econ 224 (New Products Marketing).

In addition to living in Kansas, Lehman has lived in Washington D.C. while he worked for U.S. Senator Nancy Landon Kassabaum. He spent a summer in St. Louis training with Dow Chemical; then working for Dow as a sales rep in Minnesota. Lehman was on 'sabbatical' from 2000-2001 in Washington, D.C., researching press secretaries and their methods in using mass communication.

As far as his domesticity goes, Professor Lehman has been married to Laura Osteen for three years. Osteen has a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Kansas State University and was the former coordinator of Greek Life at Kansas State. They met on campus in 1996 through students who they both worked with. Their first date was the night of Kansas State Greek Week Fling '99. Osteen started working for Kansas State this fall.

When asked about the wedding Lehman hesitated and said, "Hmmm, I should know this, right?" They were married in an old Episcopal Church in Eastern Maryland. The crowd was "around 100 people." Lehman described it as a nice small ceremony. As far as children go, Lehman responded, "We'd like to live in the same place first."

When he isn't working, Professor Lehman likes to play racquetball and on weekends he renovates an old farmhouse. He also keeps tabs on politics in his spare time, "I like to keep track." Otherwise he's working, which he doesn't seem to mind. In the great arena of Columbia's cuisine, Lehman is all over the map. Italian and Mexican are among his favorites, although he stays close to his Kansas farm roots, "American food most of the time… lots of beef."

In the entertainment category "The all-time favorite is 'Top Gun'… my wife even likes it." Other favorite movies are "Lethal Weapon" and John Wayne westerns.

All-around Professor Lehman is a good guy with down-home hospitality, a good sense of humor, and a teacher with a diverse background.

Other various facts:
Favorite Beer- Bud Light on occasion
Favorite Curse- "Oh sh*t!"
Least Favorite Word- "like"
Favorite Book- William F. Buckley's spy novels
Favorite Country- Costa Rica
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive? "There's lots of people waiting to see you."

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