May, 1999
Warren Stiles, guru of tree nutrition retires from Cornell
Cornell University’s Warren Stiles retired March 31 after more than four decades of Extension, research and teaching positions related to fruit production.
"The best part of my career has been working with growers and doing applied research to find solutions to their needs," he said. "I like it when growers tell me ‘it works.’ Although, sometimes it takes a number of years for them to say that. It has been very rewarding helping growers make money to survive."
Stiles grew up on a farm in southern New Jersey and received his bachelor’s degree in farm crops in 1954 and master’s in horticulture in 1955 from Rutgers University. He then went to Penn State and received his Ph.D. in 1958. That same year he returned to Rutgers as an associate professor of pomology doing mostly research and teaching.
In 1963 Stiles became a fruit specialist at the University of Maine. From 1966 to 1980 he was superintendent of the Highmoor Farm, the state’s fruit research station. He was promoted to full professor in 1969. He did research in pruning, training, planting systems, chemical thinning, growth regulators, nutrition, weed control, variety, rootstocks, postharvest physiology and IPM.
Move to Cornell
Stiles moved on to Cornell in 1980 as an assistant professor of pomology and did research, teaching and Extension work. During his tenure at Cornell he was also the Department of Pomology Extension leader and interdepartmental fruit committee chairman.
At Cornell, Stiles has focused his research efforts in the area of nutrition and ground cover management. He is known worldwide as an expert on apple tree nutrition and is an invited speaker to all fruit growing areas of North and South America. Closer to home, his efforts have helped the New York apple industry improve fruit quality and tree performance through improved plant nutrition. He has done cooperative work with many others at Cornell in many other disciplines as well.
In addition to his research and Extension efforts, Stiles has benefited the industry in many other ways. He was instrumental in helping to develop the New York Apple Research and Development Program, which is a grower-funded organization that funds apple research. He was a catalyst to improving the relations between the fruit industry and Cornell by his tireless efforts traveling the state. He also developed the successful Statewide Program Committee for Fruit which has been a unifying force between east and west in New York state and serves as a vehicle for grower input to the university. As a member of the board of the New York State Horticultural Society Board, he helped move the group to become a stronger organization representing the growers’ interests.
Stiles plans to move back to New Jersey with his wife. They’ve purchased a house one mile from the family farm, where his 86-year-old mother lives. He plans to start growing some fruit and will probably start with some type of berries.
Lialiang Cheng has been hired to replace Stiles and will come on at the end of 1999. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in China and is finishing his Ph.D at Oregon State University.
Lessons learned
Stiles has learned many things during his 40 years of research. Some of these include:
