NCSU Libraries Focus Online
Volume 25 number 1 - Fall 2004
Friends of the Library News--In Memoriam, William Scott Chilton
By Mary Kate Keith, Friends of the Library
William Scott Chilton, an NCSU professor in the Department of Botany, College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences, passed away unexpectedly on August 5, 2004,
while on a hiking trip on Mount Adams in Washington State. The NCSU Libraries
has lost a great friend and advocate.
Chilton loved the NCSU Libraries and spent his life furthering his knowledge
in a wide variety of fields. He was a lifetime member of the Friends of the
Library and could be found almost daily among the book stacks and computers
of the D. H. Hill Library. In addition to botany, he was an expert in mycology
and chemistry, and he spoke English, German, Latin, Russian, French, and Spanish.
A Phi Beta Kappa student at Duke University, he graduated second in his class
in 1955. He went on to study at the University of Tubingen in West Germany,
served in the navy in the 1950s, and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1963.
Chilton joined NC State as a professor in 1983. He developed and taught an
extremely popular undergraduate course on medicinal plants, attracting students
from various majors. He also taught graduate courses, served as a student advisor,
and hosted many foreign students and visiting scientists. Upon his retirement
in December 2003, he and his wife established the Chilton Undergraduate Research
Endowment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Just weeks before his death, Scott completed plans to establish the Scott
and Mary-Dell Chilton Library Endowment to support the Libraries' collections
in all subjects and formats. The endowment is a fitting testament to his dedication
to learning in so many different fields.
He is survived by his wife, Mary-Dell Chilton; his two sons, Andrew and Mark;
and two grandsons.
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