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Professor Emeritus Rupert W. Watkins

Professor Emeritus of Biological and Agricultural Engineering

Agricultural Mechanization

Biographical

Rupert. W. Watkins, Died May 2006. He earned his BAE in 1958 and MS in 1961. He worked in industry for awhile and returned to the department in 1962 taking a position as an extension assistant professor.

Notably he was engaged in on-farm testing of mechanical harvesters and was instrumental in development and testing of bulk box curing (whole leaves from the harvester deposited in a large box and cured). In 1976 over 50% of the barns sold were of the box type in contrast to suspending leaves in a rack.

Watkins had both a teaching and extension appointment. Faculty with this type of appointment significant improved the effectiveness of technology transfer to the end-user. Watkins also shared his expertise helping across the world in Australia with bulk curing problems there.