Project Governance and Management
Executive Leadership Team
Winthrop B. Phippen, Ph.D.
Project Director
Dr. Winthrop (Win) Phippen served as the Project Director for IPREFER, a $10 million multi-institutional project funded by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture, aimed at commercializing pennycress as a new cash cover crop for the Midwest Corn Belt. From 2019 to 2025, the IPREFER project focused on optimizing agronomic protocols, developing breeding lines, assessing environmental impacts, meeting supply chain requirements, and engaging in community outreach.
Dr. Phippen is a professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics at the School of Agriculture at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL. He earned his master’s degree in plant breeding from Cornell University and his doctorate from Purdue University. Over the past 20 years, his research has focused on the agronomy and breeding of alternative and new crops such as milkweed, cuphea, hemp, and most recently, pennycress.
Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL
wb-phippen@wiu.edu
Matthew Hagaman
Matthew Hagaman served as the lead for the IPREFER Outreach – Extension – Education Objective.
Center for Mathematics, Science & Technology
Illinois State University, Normal IL
mthagam@ilstu.edu
Matt Luetje
M2L Ag Consulting
Matt Luetje served as the lead for the IPREFER Supply Chain Development Objective.
M2L Ag Consulting, St. Louis MO
M2LAgCon@gmail.com
Yesuf Mohammed, Ph.D.
Research Agronomist Yesuf Mohammed, Ph.D. served as the lead for the IPREFER Agronomy / Crop Management Objective.
University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities
moha2490@umn.edu
William (Bill) Perry, Ph.D.
Dr. William (Bill) Perry, Professor of Aquatic Ecology (School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL) served as the lead for the IPREFER Pennycress Ecosystem Services Objective.
University of Minnesota, Duluth
wlperry@umn.edu
John C. Sedbrook, Ph.D.
Dr. John C. Sedbrook, Professor of Genetics (School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University), served as the lead for the Southern Breeding Section of the IPREFER Breeding and Genetics Objective.
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
jcsedbr@ilstu.edu
Julia Zhang, Ph.D.
Dr. Julia Zhang, a researcher in the Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities) served as the lead for the Northern Breeding Section of the IPREFER Breeding and Genetics Objective.
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
zhan0521@umn.edu
