Dr. J.W.T. Spinks (right), president emeritus, and Dr. Stanley Barber, professor of Chemistry, Purdue University, in Dr. Spinks' office in the Thorvaldson Building.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Stanley L. Barber was born at Wolseley, Saskatchewan. He took his public schooling and three years of high school through correspondence at Westfield School, a rural school near the home farm. He graduated with a BSA and an MSc in 1945 and 1947 respectively, from the University of Saskatchewan. As a part of his research program that was supervised by Drs. J.W.T. Spinks and John Mitchell, the first radioactive-P field fertilizer experiment in the world was set out on the Agar farm near Floral. This experiment, which was highly successful, stimulated worldwide interest in isotope dilution technology and showed the role that radio-isotopes could play in evaluating fertilizer nutrient management practices. The results of thousands of similar experiments both here and elsewhere led to dramatic improvements in fertilizer management practices. Dr. Barber obtained his PhD in Soil Chemistry from the University of Missouri in 1949, and joined the Agronomy Department, Purdue University, that same year. Barber had a distinguished research career that has resulted in major breakthroughs in knowledge of soil fertility and plant nutrition. Dr. Barber was made a Fellow of the Indiana Academy of Science, the American Society of Agronomy, and the Soil Science Society of America. He was a recipient of the Soil Science Society of America's Science Award given to the person making the greatest contribution to Soil Science in any one year. Dr. Barber received the American Society of Agronomy's Agronomic Research Award and the Agronomic Achievement Award. He wrote the book "Soil Nutrient Bio-availability," published in 1984. Dr. Barber retired in 1991, and died in 2002 in Columbus, Ohio.