An Overview of Willard L. Lindsay's Career and Accomplishments.

Willard Lindsay was born and raised on a farm in Idaho and devoted his career to the soil science discipline and its application to enhancing agricultural productivity. After receiving a PhD from Cornell University in 1956, he began his professional career as a soil chemist at the Tennessee Valley Authority.  He subsequently accepted a position at Colorado State University in 1960 and began a distinguished 37 year career in academe.  His principle areas of teaching were graduate level courses in soil fertility and chemistry.  He developed a unique style of teaching that was both refreshing and challenging to students as well as a number of visiting scientists.  His soil chemistry research emphasized the basic principles of soil chemistry as a means of addressing practical topics such as developing a micronutrient soil test and soil amendments to address micronutrient deficiencies in Colorado soils.  Dr. Lindsay made classic contributions in many areas of soil chemistry; one of which was development of the DTPA micronutrient soil test which became a world standard.  A major thrust of his career was to provide stimulating instruction to graduate students, and to participate with them in scholarly research.  He served as Major Professor for 30 Ph.D. graduates, the largest number in the history of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at CSU, and 11 M.S. graduates.  Another significant contribution was the textbook Chemical Equilibria in Soil published in 1979.  This book has been used in many universities around the world.  In 1989, he was named a University Distinguished Professor, the highest recognition bestowed on any CSU faculty.