Peter Paul Dorner

I greeted Professor Peter Dorner, the Chair of the Agricultural Economics Department at UW-Madison in Spring 1973 . I was arriving as an Assistant Professor fresh from Michigan State University. He gave me a gracious welcome, treating me as a new faculty colleague. I had an immediate connection with Peter which grew over time. His path to distinguished professor and university administrator gave me courage. I too was a farm boy who had aspired to learn and teach in a University. I was humbled to be at the University of Wiscosnin at Madison . Peter Dorner had deep Wisconsin roots which he celebrated often. After he left the role of Department Chair Peter had a small office adjacent to their elevator on the third floor of Agriculture Hall. The office invited everyone to stop in and share the successes and cares of the day. On the wall was a prominent painting of a team of work horses which were the horses Peter Dorner famed with outside Luxembourg, WI. Several times he told Merrill stories about those horses revealing what they meant to him and his connection to Wisconsin farm life. I have neglected to visit Professor Dorner in recent years. I regret that neglect. He was among the most important colleagues and mentors I had. Thank you Peter for your generous spirit in helping me remember where I came from and the opportunity I had as a UW faculty member.

My deepest sympathies and condolences to Peter's family. I remember Professor Dorner as a humble man. I was one of his RAs in the late 70s. He taught me Agricultural Economics and Development Theory. But most importantly he taught me how to deal with people, which has been one of my most valuable educational experiences. The old school, hands on experiences, and rural background, coupled with the ability to talk to people of all levels and status is sorely missed in this day of modern technology technology and instant communication. I was blessed with the opportunity to know and work with you in those years.

I did not know Professor Dorner but was intrigued and pleased to learn about him, about his impotant work on land tenure under the Alliance for Progress, and in particular that he was the thesis advisee of my father at Harvard in the late 1950s. I am sure my father would have written, as I do now, to extend condolences from the Galbraith family to Professor Dorner's family and friends. James Galbraith