The Hertz lecture on emerging issues in agriculture will be given on campus Wednesday evening, which is free for any member of the university or public to attend.

The lecture will be given at 7:30 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union and is titled “Your Future Is Short. Don’t Waste It Working for Someone Else.”

The lecture will be given by Roger Underwood, former CEO of Becker Underwood, which is “the world’s leading supplier of non-pesticide specialty chemical and biological products for agricultural, turf and horticulture markets, with annual sales of nearly $200 million,” according to the lectures program website.

Underwood is a long-time supporter of Iowa State University, “especially the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,” According to the lectures program.

Underwood helped establish, as well as fund, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative and helped organize the college’s first Career Day on campus.

Underwood, along with co-founder and childhood friend Jeff Becker, sold the Becker Underwood company to a German chemical company called BASF in 2012, according to the lectures program.