Avis de décès de Marlin-George Cline

MARLIN GEORGE CLINE Marlin George Cline of Ithaca, NY died January 9, 2009, at Ithaca, NY. He was 99 years old. He was born December 31, 1909, at Bertha, Minnesota, the second of three children of Sampson and Amy (Smith) Cline, pioneer of the region. He spent his childhood on their small dairy farm, graduated from the Betha, Minnesota High School in 1925, and spent the next six years operating the farm under his father's supervision. North Dakota Agricultural College awarded him the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1935. He was employed first by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and then by the United States Department of Agriculture for soil surveys in North Dakota until August, 1936, when he was reassigned to the soil survey of the then Territory of Hawaii. He and Agnes Israelson, of Christine, North Dakota, were married before departure. After 2 years in Hawaii, he entered Cornell University and was granted the PhD degree in 1942, when he was appointed to its faculty for teaching and research in Soil Classification and Geography. He served Cornell for 34 years, including 7 years as Department Head and 2 years as Cornell's Project Leader in the Philippines. During his tenure at Cornell, Professor Cline became known as an authority in the classification and geography of soils generally and on soils of the tropics in particular. He was granted leave during WW II for strategic intelligence involving soil conditions affecting military movement in Asian theaters of operation. At the end of the war, he remained in Federal service to design techniques for development of a map of soils of the world. In 1949, he was soil representative of a 3-man American team that studied agriculture in eight British African territories. Following that, he represented the United States at a Paris conference on agricultural development in Africa south of the Sahara. Professor Cline served on the President's Panel on World Food Supplies following WW II. He spent a sabbatical leave during 1952 working with soil scientists of the western and central United States and western provinces of Canada on emerging problems of soil classification. From 1954 to 1956, he was Cornell Project Leader on its Federal contract to rehabilitate the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture and its faculty following their devastation during the Japanese occupation. In 1958, "during the cold war," he was a member of the State Department mission to the, then, Soviet Union to appraise its resources and research on soil and water. While Agronomy Department Head at Cornell from 1963 to 1970, he served as faculty representative during construction of Bradfield and Emerson Halls. After relinquishing the head ship in 1970, Professor Cline devoted his energies to the Cornell program in International Agriculture until his retirement in 1974. Professor Cline was awarded honorary doctorate degrees by both North Dakota State University and Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America, and American Association for the Advancement of Science and holds the prestigious New York Farmers Award. Professor Cline is survived by his wife Agnes (Israelson) Cline, a son, Richard Cline of Vienna, VA, a daughter Mary Harris of St. Louis, MO, and 3 grandchildren. In keeping with Professor Cline's wishes, there will be no public services. Arrangements are by the Bangs Funeral Home.