Tribute to a Legend
Friday, December 17, 2021
Media Contact: Samantha Siler | Communications and Marketing Manager | 405-744-2977 | samantha.siler@okstate.edu
Humbleness and humility.
These two words describe a man who was a faculty legend within the Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture — Bill Raun.
Valued by all who knew him, Raun lost his second battle with cancer July 25, 2021.
But today, Raun’s legacy continues to inspire others to improve and serve the agricultural industry, said Tanya Raun, his wife of 29 years.
Raun spent most of his youth living in Mexico and Colombia, where his father worked in international agriculture, she said.
“This opportunity gave him fluency in Spanish and a lifelong appreciation for international farmers,” Tanya Raun said. “He was always a Latino at heart.”
But, for his senior year of high school, Raun decided to come to Stillwater so he could play on an American golf team, she added.
After graduation from Stillwater High School, he enrolled at OSU and earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy in 1979. He then earned his master’s degree in 1982 in the same discipline. In 1985, he earned his doctorate in agronomy from the University of Nebraska.
Raun then spent six years working at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, or CIMMYT, as a regional maize agronomist across nine countries throughout Central America.
In 1992, Raun joined the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. During his 29 years at OSU, he taught graduate classes, soils classes and one senior-level course in precision agriculture.
Raun served as the research adviser for 84 graduate students who earned 103 graduate degrees from OSU.
“He would spend hours on research or a project, and when it would be published, he would give his students all the credit,” said Brian Arnall, professor of plant and soil sciences and one of Raun’s former graduate students. “That’s the type of man he was.”
Raun’s students included individuals from Africa, Asia, North America and South America. He wanted his international students to learn everything possible so they could return to their home communities and teach others, Arnall said.
“When I was choosing a graduate school, he looked at me and said ‘You’re going to be the technician, and I’m going to send you around the world,’” Arnall said.
“I earned my doctorate in three years and traveled to Mexico three times, to China twice, and to India,” Arnall added. “As a kid from Oklahoma, it was eye-opening, and Dr. Raun gave me that opportunity.”
In addition to helping students, Raun’s goal was to reduce world hunger by helping farmers around the world improve their agronomic practices, said Randy Taylor, OSU Extension assistant director and program leader of the agriculture, natural resources, and community economic development programs.
Each year, Raun would conduct 110 field experiments to study environmentally sound fertilizer management for cereal production as well as research in nutrient efficiency in crops.
“He focused on large goals like improving nitrogen-use efficiency, not only in the U.S. but also the world,” Taylor said.
During his time at OSU, Raun helped develop the GreenSeeker, which is a device used to check the health of crops so producers can make more informed nutrient management decisions, Arnall added.
The GreenSeeder, another of Raun’s projects, was created to help increase production and efficiency of seeds planted in developing countries.
“Dr. Raun’s legacy via the GreenSeeker, the GreenSeeder and graduate students has impacted farmers and scientists on every continent but Antarctica,” Arnall said.
Although helping the world was important to Raun, his family came first, Tanya Raun said. The couple has four children — Anne, Kate, Chris and Dana — all of whom spent many hours with their dad in his office in the basement of Agricultural Hall, she said.
“He would always save change for the kids to grab snacks from the campus vending machines and keep blankets in his filing cabinet so the kids could take naps in his office,” Tanya Raun said. “They loved drawing on the white board and considered all of his students as family.”
The time Raun spent enriching others’ lives will be remembered through the Dr. William R. Raun Memorial Scholarship established by his wife and colleagues to honor his memory, Arnall said.
“Dr. Raun wanted to help the world,” Arnall said.
Story By: Austin Anderson | Cowboy Journal