This fall from September through November, high school seniors from across Illinois and the nation will be interviewing as candidates for 2010 Jonathan Baldwin Turner Scholarships.  This College of ACES scholarship program is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and hundreds of successful ACES alumni can attest that a JBT scholarship provided their doorway to higher education.

It is appropriate that this scholarship is named for an individual who championed both the concept of public access for higher education and the then-radical notion that agricultural and mechanical arts were suitable subjects for academic inquiry. Jonathan Baldwin Turner’s pioneering efforts to transform higher education in the mid-1850s continue to impact universities across our nation today. In fact, I suspect the University of Illinois would not exist in its present form were it not for the efforts of Jonathan Baldwin Turner. His influence and leadership helped build momentum for the Morrill Act, which President Abraham Lincoln signed into law in 1862. The new law established a framework for land grant universities such as the University of Illinois, dedicated not only to classical academic disciplines, but also to the study of agriculture, science, and engineering.

Today, the scholarship program that bears Jonathan Baldwin Turner’s name attracts top students to the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. These students exemplify scholarly excellence, good citizenship, and demonstrated leadership attributes. I think Jonathan Baldwin Turner would be proud to see how his legacy lives on at the College of ACES.

Robert Hauser
Interim Dean
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences