The endowment was established in 1985 with a gift from the estate of Fred N. VanBuren. The professorship supports the teaching of farm management at Ohio State for the benefit of both students and farm clientele of the university's programs. Dr. Brian Roe has held the professorship since 2016.

It is estimated that one-third of the food grown on U.S. farms is never eaten, representing a fundamental inefficiency in modern agriculture and food systems. Dr. Roe has systematically investigated how to better understand and address this system-wide issue. Much of his work in this space can be found on the Ohio State Food Waste Collaborative and RECIPES (see links below).