William D. Pardee ’51

William D. Pardee ’51, Ph.D.—a scholar in agricultural science with a deep specialty in plant breeding—died at his home in Ithaca, New York, on May 1. Bill spent more than 50 years as a professor and department chair in plant breeding at Cornell University. In his later years he specialized in Third World crop production, traveling and consulting in Indonesia, Burundi and the Philippines. He wrote extensively and founded his own consulting firm, Pardee Crop Consulting. Bill was an active contributor to his field, serving as a fellow in the American Society of Agronomy and a member of the Crop Science Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the agricultural honor societies Epsilon Sigma Phi and Gamma Sigma Delta. He grew up on the family farm in Orange, Connecticut. At Dartmouth he majored in botany and was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa, the Dartmouth Outing Club, Cabin & Trail, Ecological Society and Natural History Club. He served in the U.S. Army as an enlisted man before going on to earn his doctorate at Cornell. Bill’s father, William ’25, was a Dartmouth alumnus, as was brother Joseph ’53 (deceased). His wife, Barbara, four children and brother Scott ’58 survive Bill.