[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 77 (Thursday, May 20, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   IN HONOR OF DR. DONALD F. CROSSAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL N. CASTLE

                              of delaware

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 2010

  Mr. CASTLE. Madam Speaker, it is with great honor but a heavy heart 
that I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. Donald F. Crossan, a Delaware 
native who devoted his life to his community and his career to 
academics at the University of Delaware. Dr. Crossan will be missed by 
many throughout our state, but his legacy lives on in the lives he 
touched through his service as a professor and community member, and 
with the agricultural academic scholarship endowed in his name.
  Born in 1926 and raised in Wilmington, Don was a Veteran of the 
Second World War, an avid outdoorsman, and had visited all seven 
continents over his lifetime. Don's interest in plants, animals, and 
the outdoors was established early in his life. As a boy, he learned 
about hunting and fishing in the nearby ponds and fields and acted as 
an Assistant Boy Scout Leader. After graduating from P.S. DuPont High 
School in 1944, Don enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in 
Guam, serving as a tail gunner. Upon returning home, he married his 
`girl next door,' Ruth Swanson, and went on to earn his Bachelor of 
Science at the University of Delaware and his Master of Science and 
Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Pathology at North Carolina State 
College.
  Don spent his entire 39-year career at the University of Delaware, 
working as a Professor, Vice President of University Relations and 
Business Management, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and 
Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Don's academic and 
administrative contributions truly embodied the tradition of excellence 
held by our state's flagship university; his knowledge, his expertise, 
and his dedication enhanced the curriculum of the College of 
Agricultural Sciences, as well as its focus on service to the 
University and the broader community. Among the numerous academic and 
community awards he received are both the University of Delaware's 
Medal of Distinction and its Outstanding Alumnus Award, the Arthur 
Trabant Women's Equity Award, and the New Castle County and State of 
Delaware Farm Bureau Awards for Outstanding Service to Agriculture.
  An integral part of our economy in Delaware, agriculture is ingrained 
in our state's history and Don's leadership and involvement in this 
issue has extended well beyond the walls of the University. As the 
first Chairman of the Delaware Farmland Preservation Foundation, Don 
fought to ensure that agriculture would always remain a part of the 
fabric of our culture. He sat on a number of boards--including those of 
the National Corn Breeders Association, the Delaware Agricultural 
Museum, the Delaware Nature Education Society, the Newark Senior 
Center, and Longwood Gardens--and was Chairman of the Coastal Zone 
Industrial Control Board under three different Governors. Moreover, 
because of Don's direct leadership in the preservation and permanent 
protection of more than 60,000 acres of Delaware farmland, former 
Governor Ruth Ann Minner declared July 26th, 2001 as Dr. Donald F. 
Crossan Day.
  Don was a loving husband to his wife, with whom he enjoyed 
entertaining family and friends in the Swedish tradition. With Ruth at 
his side, their recent travel to Antarctica saw them reach their goal 
of visiting all seven continents. Don will be missed immensely by his 
wife and their family, including his sister, Delores, his children, 
Connie, Donna and Eric, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and nieces 
and nephews.
  We in Delaware are grateful for the contributions of Dr. Donald F. 
Crossan as both a scholar and dedicated community member, and I am 
honored to be able to recognize and pay tribute today to the life of 
such a good friend and leader.

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