Marlowe Driggs Thorne Papers, 1943-93 | University of Illinois Archives

Series 1: Autobiographical Accounts and Slides, 1943-93

Box 1

Box 1 contains a binder with Professor Thorne's autobiographical accounts, including long excerpts from his memoir "Life and Times of Marlowe Driggs Thorne" and letters he wrote about his work at the Institute of Agricultural and Animal Sciences in Rampur, Nepal (1982-84) for the UIUC Department of Agronomy newsletter (Squanto Speaks). The binder also contains Merle Carter Thorne's diary titled "To India," covering Thorne's USAID deployment to India as professor of agronomy and adviser in water technology at G. B. Pant Agricultural University in Pant Nagar, India (1970-72). Digital duplicates of these materials are saved on a thumb drive also included in the binder.

Boxes 2-3

Boxes 2 and 3 contain Professor Thorne's slides, 1943-87, arranged in chronological order. These slides document his work in the United States, e.g., Hawaii, Oklahoma, and North Dakota, as well as internationally, including in Sierra Leone, India, Malawi, Niger, and Brazil. They primarily relate to his work in soil management and capture agricultural techniques, farming equipment and technology, crops, livestock, and natural and agricultural landscapes. Also included are some touristic scenes of local architecture and people as well as cultural practices such as animal slaughter, parades, and dedication ceremonies.

Marlowe Driggs Thorne (1918-2011) was professor of Agronomy (1963-83), head of the Department of Agronomy (1963-70), and professor emeritus (1984-2011) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He was known for his research contributions to soil management and irrigation as well as for his leadership on international agriculture programs.

Marlowe Driggs Thorne was born on November 4, 1918, in Perry, Utah, to parents Ida Vilate Young Thorne and Milton Jefferson Thorne. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Utah State University in 1940; a master's degree in soils and chemistry from Iowa State University in 1941; and a doctorate in soils, chemistry, and physics from Cornell University in 1948. He was soil physicist and head of the Soils and Agronomy Department at the Pineapple Research Institute of Hawaii, 1947-54; work project leader at the Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, 1954-56; and professor and head of the Agronomy Department at Oklahoma State University, 1956-63. In 1963, Thorne joined the faculty at UIUC as professor and head of the Department of Agronomy. His tenure at UIUC included USAID deployments to work on the development of university agricultural programs abroad, including G. B. Pant Agricultural University in Pant Nagar, India (1970-72), and the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences in Rampur, Nepal, 1982-84. He also held consultancies for international agricultural programs such as USAID, including in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Niger, and Brazil, among others. Thorne was a member and fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy; he served as president of the American Society of Agronomy in 1975.

Thorne was married on June 24, 1941, to Edna Merle Carter, and together, they had four children: Terry, Judy, Melvin, and Elaine. He died in Savoy, Illinois, on February 17, 2011.

Source:

"Marlowe Thorne," February 23, 2011, accessed March 11, 2021,https://www.news-gazette.com/obituaries/marlowe-thorne/article_8e61a9f2-0b9b-5731-9d6a-4df5aaf03afa.html.