Alumni Memories

Donald R. Nielsen

Agronomy, PhD., 1958
(Don Kirkham's 27th student, retired professor, University of California, Davis)

The Legacy of Don and Betty Kirkham

KIRKHAM ACADEMIC TREE - an ever-expanding worldwide community contributing to education and humanity
Recognized as the best-known soil physicist of the 20th century as well as "the father of mathematical soil physics," Don Kirkham supervised 72 students towards an advanced degree in soil physics. Subsequently, his students served as major professors to the next generation of soil physicists, and they in turn served as major professors to their students, and so on. Today, counting the original 72 students, and the succeeding generations of students, there is a Kirkham Academic Tree of more than 2,000 persons who have or are now teaching, conducting and applying soil physics research in every major country of the world. The Kirkham Academic Tree is voluminous inasmuch as it contains a six-page detailed biography and photo of each student, grand student, great-grand student et al. With its documentation updated regularly as present-day students graduate each year, the tree lives and continues to grow. Plans will be made to have it available on the World Wide Web and in the Archives of Iowa State University.

DON AND BETTY KIRKHAM SOIL PHYSICS AWARDS
The Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award of the Soil Science Society of America annually recognizes mid-career soil scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the area of soil physics. Selection is based on significance and originality of basic and applied research in soil physics, quality and impact of teaching soil physics at undergraduate and graduate levels and impact of contributions on soil science and other fields, nationally and internationally, as well as on the world community at large. The award consists of a certificate, a bronze medallion and an honorarium of $1,000.

KIRKHAM CONFERENCES
Kirkham Conferences are topical meetings in which an off-the-record forum encourages scientists to make organized, in-depth explorations of disciplinary and interdisciplinary subjects of soil physics in ways seldom possible at national or international meetings. These conferences held every four years anywhere in the world, each focus on a special topic and provide timely development of newly emerging research ideas and inquiries under the sponsorship of Division S-1 of the Soil Science Society of America. Topics for the Kirkham Conferences are narrowly defined to appeal to a limited attendance of generally less than 50 people, to allow for thorough in-depth coverage, and to provide generous opportunity for participant discussion to define and analyze important problems and opportunities and to stimulate those attending to suggest possible solutions. The last Kirkham Conference was held February 2008 in Ghent, Belgium.

DON AND BETTY KIRKHAM SOIL PHYSICS MEDALS
The Don and Betty Kirkham Medal, presented every eight years at alternate Kirkham Conferences, commemorates the unexcelled career achievements of those few individuals throughout the world who uniquely contributed to soil physics because of their teaching, research and professional activities. The recognition consists of a certificate, a gold medal and an honorarium of $1,000.

Biographies of Don and Betty Kirkham can be found online at:
http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/tuller/kirkham/biographies.htm