Passing of a U of I Icon

In catching up on my reading today, Ran across and obituary of Ambrose W. Burger.  Dr. Burger was a long time Agronomy Professor and during my time at the University of Illinois,  he taught the Introductory Agronomy class which I took in my first semester.  Since that class was nearly 40 years ago, I have to admit that I cannot say what I learned from Dr. Burger related to agronomy.  I can say I learned a good deal about what he expected of his students.  He expected class attendance.  He expected effort.  He expected participation.  Dr. Burger received many awards for his teaching,  He also sponsored the Field and Furrow Club, the U of I Agronomy Club, for 30 years.  It was in the Field and Furrow club that he really showed his dedication to students.  He made sure that our first exposure to the world of Professional Academic groups was a positive one.

Despite being sort of a scary guy to a freshman, he was merciful to me when I missed an exam one morning.  I walked into his office apologetically as soon as I was able and he sat me down right there and handed me the test.  I was both surprised and appreciative that he was merciful.

Dr. Burger had sort of a disorganized looking office, but I remember one time I was doing a paper for another class and someone said that Dr. Burger would have some reference material that he might share.  When I went to see him he rubbed his chin and looked around a minute and reached into a pile and pulled out exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks for your efforts Dr. Burger on behalf of all the students who passed through your sphere of influence.