If Thomas Henick-Kling could offer one piece of advice to students, it would be to maximize education through experience.

“Go somewhere else,” Henick-Kling said. “Study a semester or two abroad.” As the new director of WSU’s viticulture and enology program, he will bring his own international perspective to students in Prosser.

As a native German, studying abroad is what originally brought Henick-Kling to the U.S., and in turn, WSU and the Washington wine industry. But he had many stops along the way.

Pursuing a master’s in geology, Henick-Kling came to Oregon State University as a student in the 1970s. But he admits that his heart wasn’t really in geology, and he was looking for something else. He found what he was looking for in wine.

“I always liked wine, but my parents weren’t involved in winemaking, and it’s kind of a European thing to do what your parents do,” Henick-Kling said.

It was geology, though, that ultimately led to him to viticulture.

“I was on my way to become a geology teacher and I was assigned a study paper on wineries,” Henick-Kling said. “So I stayed at OSU to find out about wine.” From OSU, Henick-Kling went on to study wine across the world. He got a doctorate at the University of Adelaide in Australia and later went to work in New York at Cornell University.

“At Cornell, I helped develop a new undergraduate program, and I left looking for something different, a new challenge.” Henick-Kling said.

A new challenge is what his position at WSU represents. On March 1, Henick-Kling will officially begin his duties as director of WSU’s viticulture and enology program. For him, research is paramount.

The greatest research challenge is figuring out how to make wine regionally distinctive, Henick-Kling said. In other words, researchers must understand what soil and weather conditions create a wine flavor and how to manipulate those factors to produce the most desirable tasting wine.

“There are two big questions for winemakers,” Henick-Kling said. “How do we create wine flavor, and how do we maintain sustainability?” Researching the answers to those questions and teaching enology and viticulture students how to be successful in the wine industry are important goals, Henick-Kling said.

Fortunately for the viticulture and enology program, Henick-Kling’s goals will not be impeded by WSU’s recent budget cuts. President Elson S. Floyd is committed to viticulture at WSU, Henick-Kling said.

Henick-Kling also stressed the talents of his colleagues at WSU.

“I have a very broad experience and background in wine,” he said, “but what students should know about the faculty here is that although they are young, they are outstanding and internationally recognized.”