Colorado State University Honors Three Distinguished Soil and Crop Sciences Graduates

Colorado State University’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences recently awarded its Honor Alum award to three distinguished graduates of the program, Carrol E. Hamon, Paul W. Unger and Bob V. Conger.

Unger is an internationally recognized soil scientist who spent his 35-year-career with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Bushland, Texas. A native of Texas, Unger received his master’s from Colorado State’s soil and crop sciences program in 1963 and went on to earn his doctoral degree from the department in 1966. He is noted for his work in water and soil conservation and especially his contributions related to the beneficial effects of reduced tillage and residue cover on soils. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science of America, and has received many other awards over his career. Since retiring, he has been a collaborator with the USDA-ARS and is still an active writer.

Hamon had a 30-year distinguished career with the USDA’s National Resources Conservation Society. He had an additional 10-year career as coordinator of Energy Conservation for Colorado Agriculture. Hamon is a native of Missouri and earned his B.S. degree in 1950. He and his wife, Alice, are retired in Longmont, where they continue to be active in many local organizations. Hamon received an FFA Honorary Farmer Degree, a USDA Outstanding Employee Award and a State Soil Conservation Board Outstanding Performance Award.  

Conger is professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, where he had a highly successful, 40-year career as a plant radiation biologist and mutation geneticist. He is a native of Pierce and earned his bachelor’s from the department in 1963. Conger developed an internationally recognized tissue culture and transformation laboratory at Tennessee. He is a Fellow of ASA, the Crop Science Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Plant Science Section of the Society for In Vitro Biology.

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