Remembering Ray Allmaras: Scientist, Mentor, and Friend.

Ray Allmaras had a long, diverse, and multifaceted research career, conducting research in soil erosion, compaction, tillage, carbon/N, root growth, and root diseases and several other topics, in corn and soybean systems of the Midwest and wheat systems in the Pacific Northwest.  Judging from the response to the symposium, he touched the lives, careers, and research philosophies of a wide range of scientists.  As a new post-doc when I went to work for him, I found him to be helpful, exacting, and supportive of the research I proposed.  He prepared me for professional responsibilities and I am grateful that he could help hone my skills and provide the mentoring that I needed.  Ray, by sharing his enthusiasm for science and discovery, launched many careers, through personal training and by his trainees working with others.  For example, I am I am a first generation scientist of his mentoring, all of my former grad students are second generation, and several of my students now have students, so there is a third generation that I know about.  Since I worked for Ray near the end of his career, I suspect that those who had earlier associations with him have fourth, fifth, and even six or more generations of professionals that can count Ray as a mentor.  Today we will remember Ray’s contributions to agronomic science and our professional careers.