Former Head of Research at Virginia Tech Dies

BLACKSBURG, Va., Jan. 25, 2002 -- Coyt T. Wilson, former director of the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and former associate dean of Virginia Tech's research division, died Friday at the age of 88.

In the 1960s, Wilson was a member of a small team of scientists who developed a classification system that streamlined agricultural research nationwide.

"This was a tremendous development," said P. Howard Massey Jr., who served as associate director of the Experiment Station with Wilson. "It accelerated the research effort. Researchers anywhere in the country could tap into this database before they'd start a project and they could see what had been done on that anywhere else. It saved people from plowing the same ground again."

Massey remembered that for more than a year Wilson spent several days a week in Washington, D.C., working to establish the system.

"He was an excellent administrator and organizer, and he was a delightful person to work with," Massey said. "When he said he'd do something, you didn't need it in writing. You could depend on it."

Wilson, who retired in 1978, headed Virginia Tech's agricultural research effort for 13 years beginning in 1965. He joined the administrative team of the Experiment Station in 1964 after 13 years as assistant dean of agriculture and associate director of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University.

Trained as a plant pathologist and plant physiologist at Alabama Polytechnic and at the University of Minnesota, he joined the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station in 1944 as an assistant plant pathologist. He became a full professor and earned a reputation as one of the top peanut plant pathologists in the world before becoming an administrator in the Experiment Station.

In 1989, the American Peanut Research and Education Society established the Coyt T. Wilson Service Award to be awarded to society members who contributed outstanding service. The naming of the award as "in recognition of [Wilson's] many years of service and leadership in this organization."

Virginia Tech plant breeders are preparing to release a new peanut variety bearing Wilson's name.

Wilson was listed in Who's Who in America, American Men of Science, and Who's Who in American Education. He was a member in numerous professional organizations.

Button and son-in-law Gilbert Button of Richmond; his son Kenneth Wade Wilson of Blacksburg; and grandchildren, Mark Wilson Button of Chapel Hill and Charlotte Elizabeth Button, who is a senior at Virginia Tech.