Supporting the Future

Illinois Seed Trade Association Golf Outing by Richard Denhart – Executive Secretary-Treasurer  

The Burlison Award is presented annually to an outstanding graduate student in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. As you are well aware the support mechanism for this important investment in our future has been canceled for 2020.

At our annual meeting, held virtually on June 25th, the Illinois Seed Trade Association (ISTA) awarded Connor Sible the Burlison Award. Connor spoke of his research and served as a glimpse of a promising future for all of us.

We hope to have a golf outing in 2021 and continue supporting graduate students without interruption or with reductions in the award. Therefore, in lieu of this year’s golf outing, we are asking for donations to help support Illinois Seed Trade’s investment in the future. If you budgeted an amount for the golf outing please consider donating the same. By sending a check or calling Melanie with a credit card payment you can help support future students dedicating themselves to Burlison’s legacy.

Thank you for your kind consideration of this important matter. Your support is greatly appreciated.

WILLIAM L. BURLSION (1882-1958)William L. Burlison (1882-1958) was a professor of agronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) from 1915 to 1951 and head of the department from 1920 to 1951. He was a researcher of crop production, soybeans, and soil conservation.

William Leonidas Burlison (1882-1958) was born in Harrison, Arkansas, on September 3, 1882 to William Washington and Amanda Ercila (Pettit) Burlison. After earning a BS at Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical College in 1905, Burlison received his Master’s degree in 1908 and his PhD in 1915, both in Agronomy at UIUC. Burlison was hired as associate professor in the Agronomy Department at UIUC in 1915. In 1918, he advanced to full professor and served as the Head of the Agronomy Department from 1920 until his retirement in 1951. He married Miss Flossy B. Lewis in 1909 and they had four children.His classes and research focused on topics such as crop production, soybeans, soil conservation, cereal crops, corn, soil surveys, and wartime crop production. Burlison published bulletins, circulars, and scientific and popular articles, including one book, Farm Crop Projects (1930).