Dave Franzen, NDSU Extension Soil Specialist, has been a force in the nutrient management research community for 30 years, after working 18 years in the retail fertilizer business. His contributions to the field are numerous. In the 1990s, he researched soil nutrient variability and precision agriculture, before precision ag was ‘cool’, and since then has conducted and published on active optical sensors to determine topdress N rates. He has revolutionized thinking on N contributions from no-till, and has shown that yield based N recommendations don’t work as well as flat rate N recommendations in North Dakota due to high N mineralization in high yielding environments. He has provided tools to corn and soybean growers that incorporate important soil and weather properties to better determine fertilizer needs. He has written 55 scientific publications, 3 book chapters, and over 40 Extension Publications. In summary, Dave Franzen is highly deserving of the GPSFC Leadership Award and he will be greatly missed after his upcoming retirement.