Son Jon

This picture of Jon was taken on February 28, 1970, in the Patio of the USDA Administration Building at a Science Fair. He was recognized for a “Soils Exhibit” he put together for the event. Yesterday, some 45+ years later,  he walked across the  same “stage” to be recognized as the team leader for a “Conservation Client Gateway” program for which he led the development. It is a computer program that enables farmers and other clients to utilize soils and other data, in making decisions on all USDA programs. One of the judges at the earlier Science Fair  where Jon received a Blue Ribbon was the

Associate Chief of the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) who had a son that was a Soil Scientist with SCS. By the time he and Jon ended their visit, Jon had decided he wanted to become a Soil Scientist. He was also familiar with his Uncle Dale who had a PhD in Agronomy with a soils major. Through High School and College he never waivered from his plan and along with it, became an early user of computers. He worked at several locations is Virginia as a Student Trainee while still in college and upon graduation from VPI, worked at several locations with SCS in North Carolina. He then worked in the NY State SCS Office at Syracuse and spent a few years in the Soils Center at Lincoln, NE. He was promoted to the Washington Office in ’96 where he got an MA degree from GWU and has now been recognized for his outstanding leadership.