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TRIBUTE to a Legend
OSU AGRICULTURE LOSES LONG-TIME FACULTY MEMBER
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umbleness 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
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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,
Bill Raun helps celebrate the 125th harvest of the Magruder plots. Photo by Todd Johnson.
