Full Text of SR1208 101st General Assembly
SR1208 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Burton E. "Burt" Swanson Ph.D. of | 4 | | Champaign, who passed away on April 23, 2020; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson was born in Bureau County to Harlan | 6 | | and Evelyn (Wessel) Swanson on November 28, 1939; he grew up on | 7 | | the family farm near Princeton and graduated from Bureau | 8 | | Township High School in 1957 in a class of eight; he attended | 9 | | Illinois State University and then the University of Illinois, | 10 | | where he received his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural | 11 | | Education in 1961; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson joined the Peace Corps and took his | 13 | | very first air flight, traveling to Washington, D.C. for | 14 | | training at Howard University; after training, he took his | 15 | | first international flight to his assignment in Cyprus; he was | 16 | | called home to Washington at the death of President John | 17 | | Kennedy and continued to serve in the Peace Corps as a | 18 | | recruiting officer; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson earned his Master of Science in | 20 | | International Agricultural Development from the University of | 21 | | California-Davis in 1968 and his Ph.D. in development studies | 22 | | from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1974; during |
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| 1 | | this time, he worked with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman | 2 | | Borlaug at CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat | 3 | | Improvement Center) in Mexico; after earning a postdoctorate at | 4 | | Wisconsin, he accepted a position at the University of Illinois | 5 | | in 1975, where he remained for his entire academic and | 6 | | international career; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson was a professor of rural development | 8 | | in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental | 9 | | Sciences (ACES) and director of INTERPAKS (International | 10 | | Program for Agricultural Knowledge Systems), directing and | 11 | | teaching a series of short courses for international | 12 | | participants from around the world; he was also a senior fellow | 13 | | for International Service for National Agricultural Research | 14 | | at The Hague; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson had a long and distinguished career | 16 | | in international agricultural extension and rural development | 17 | | and is recognized as an international authority in the field; | 18 | | he traveled around the world, serving in Europe, the Middle | 19 | | East, Latin America, Asia, Africa, Egypt, and Russia and | 20 | | working extensively in China and India, with 80 assignments in | 21 | | over 35 countries; he spent his career working to improve | 22 | | national extension systems in order to increase agricultural | 23 | | productivity and food security in developing nations, in an | 24 | | environmentally sustainable way; among his colleagues, he was |
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| 1 | | known for his intense focus and tireless work ethic; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson worked with the United States Agency | 3 | | for International Development (USAID), the International Fund | 4 | | for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, and the | 5 | | United Nations Food and Agriculture Office (FAO) in Rome; he | 6 | | was a founder and the first president of the Association of | 7 | | International Agricultural Extension Education (AIAEE); he | 8 | | wrote and edited several books, one of which was translated | 9 | | into seven languages; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson provided leadership for the | 11 | | value-added agricultural research and extension program at the | 12 | | University of Illinois; he also taught a discovery course for | 13 | | freshmen at the university and delighted in sharing with new | 14 | | students his in-depth knowledge and insights about the world | 15 | | and its problems and what their future roles in that world | 16 | | might be; he secured a $9 million dollar grant in 2010 to | 17 | | establish the MEAS project (Modernizing Extension and Advisory | 18 | | Services); and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson received numerous national and | 20 | | international awards, including the University of Illinois | 21 | | Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement, the | 22 | | Paul A. Funk Recognition Award from the College of ACES, the | 23 | | C-U International Humanitarian Award, and the Outstanding |
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| 1 | | Service Award from AIAEE; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson was devoted to his children and | 3 | | cherished his family and the time spent with them; he was an | 4 | | extraordinary, generous, and loving grandfather; he loved | 5 | | attending the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, scuba | 6 | | diving and swimming, traveling just for fun, enjoying the | 7 | | beauty of Allerton Park, supporting his favorite causes, and | 8 | | spending time with his many friends and colleagues; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson was preceded in death by his parents; | 10 | | his sister-in-law, Sylvia Swanson; and his son-in-law, Alan | 11 | | Rankin; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Burt Swanson is survived by his wife, Iris | 13 | | (Arend-Frillman); his daughter, Anne Swanson; his son, David | 14 | | (Sally); his granddaughters, Sophia and Alyssa; his brother, | 15 | | Roger Swanson; his wife's family, Leslie (Alan) Rankin, Jamie | 16 | | (Brian) Shamhart, and Scott (Christine) Frillman; his | 17 | | grandsons, Miles and Seth Rankin, Nicholas, Jason, and Will | 18 | | Frillman and Cole Shamhart; his nephews, Ronald (Dawn) Swanson | 19 | | and Peter (Connie) Swanson; and his great-nieces and | 20 | | great-nephew, Betsy, Erica, Veronica, Nicole, Natalie, and | 21 | | Nate Swanson; therefore, be it
| 22 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL |
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| 1 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 2 | | Burton E. "Burt" Swanson and extend our sincere condolences to | 3 | | his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 4 | | further
| 5 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 | | presented to the family of Burt Swanson as an expression of our | 7 | | deepest sympathy.
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