DATE: May 07, 2009

CONTACT: Bruce Fortnum, 843-662-3526, ext. 259
bfrtnm@clemson.edu

WRITER: Peter Hull, 843-554-7226 ext. 118
phull@clemson.edu

Clemson University honors former director of Florence research center

FLORENCE — John B. Pitner just can’t stay away.

Despite retiring 23 years ago, the man credited with transforming Clemson University’s former agricultural experiment station in Florence into a world-renowned research and education center still is a regular visitor to the building that bears his name.

At 91 years old, Pitner, former director of Clemson’s Pee Dee Research and Education Center, remains as passionate about agriculture as he was during his 29-year tenure as the center’s director.

During Friday’s Commencement ceremonies, Clemson University will recognize Pitner’s dedication and innovation in agricultural research with an honorary doctorate of humanities.

The honor will be a proud moment in Pitner’s career, one he will share with his Pee Dee “family.”

“We — I still say we — have done pretty well,” he said during a recent visit to the research center.

Pitner’s career began in 1944 when, after receiving a Ph.D. in soils chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, he went to work for Mississippi State University, where he had received his bachelor's and master's degrees.

At Mississippi State he was in charge of the soil-fertility and plant-nutrition programs for all crops in the Mississippi Delta.

In 1947, he was chosen by the Rockefeller Foundation as the soils scientist to join four select agricultural scientists to form the Mexican Agricultural Program.

The research group was created to investigate and develop plant production to increase harvests of corn, wheat and beans in the region. Pitner’s research highlighted the key role played by fertilizer and its use in increasing crop productivity.

After nearly eight years in Mexico, during which time he worked with some of the biggest names in agriculture, including Norman Borlaug and E. C. Stakeman, he returned to the United States in 1954. He became head of Clemson’s agronomy and soils department, now part of entomology, soils and plant sciences.

After three years on the main campus, Pitner moved to Florence.

As director of the Pee Dee center, Pitner conducted research programs focusing on crops such as cotton, corn, soybeans, turf grasses and tobacco. His paramount concern was the conservation of soils and water, and he championed a multidisciplinary approach to crop research.

He is co-inventor of a mechanical tobacco harvester that brought machine harvesting to the small farmer. His involvement in basic research produced recommendations that led to the eradication of the cotton boll weevil, which was introduced to the United States in 1892 and was one of the most damaging pests in the history of crop production.

The center’s current director, Bruce Fortnum, said that Pitner brought the Pee Dee center from a sleepy experiment station to a modern research facility.

The center has become the recognized name for certain fields of research, particularly tobacco, cotton and turfgrass, and regularly welcomes visiting scientists from around the world. More recently, biofuels has become an important research area.

“I don’t think there’s a single major research center in the world that works on tobacco that hasn’t sent people here,” Fortnum said.

Pitner retired in 1986. Two years after, the Pee Dee center’s modern office building opened. Pitner was instrumental in selecting, planning and overseeing the nearly 2,300-acre site and construction of the office building.

On Aug. 10, 1999, the building was named the John B. Pitner Center.

He describes the site off Pocket Road as “one of the best investments Clemson ever made.” The center’s soils are diverse enough that scientists can cover just about all the crops of the Pee Dee, he said.

“This is what you call the right place at the right time,” he said. “This is a great place for the work we do in this region.”

He was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities in 1984 by Francis Marion University in recognition of improving the quality of agriculture in the Pee Dee region.

Pitner retired before the computer age, a time when e-mail and the Internet were not yet commonplace. It made for very meticulous research, he said.

Maybe that’s why he feels an unbreakable bond with the Florence center, and why he can’t stay away.

“I was 69 when I retired – I didn’t know anyone else could do it the way I was doing it,” he said. “Or to put it another way, no one would look after my family the way I was doing.”

How often does he visit? “About every week.”

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On the Web
For information about Clemson’s Pee Dee center, visit http://www.clemson.edu/peedeerec/.