Class of 1908

These capped and gowned graduates of 1908 look as if they could step in line with 1998's degree recipients, who still wear traditional attire at Commencement. These days, however, it would be hard to picture everyone in a single photo. This May, about 1,200 graduates of the 1,428 eligible to receive main campus degrees crossed the stage at the Pan American Center to become NMSU's newest alumni. (Photo provided by the Rio Grande Historical Collections at the NMSU Library)

Retired NMSU plant breeder Billy Melton developed six new alfalfa varieties in his 32 years at NMSU. Now he spends eight-hour days designing and building model airplanes.

In his research, teaching and even his personal hobbies, Billy Melton, '54, is used to leading the way.

The former NMSU plant breeder was the first to develop an alfalfa variety that thrived under New Mexico's less-than-optimum rainfall. "I just planted the alfalfa and didn't give it any water to see what would grow," he explained. From there, he selected plants that showed the most potential.

During his 32 years with NMSU, Melton released six improved varieties, and alfalfa became the state's most important cash crop, earning him the informal title, "King Alfalfa."

"We were really getting things done. It was a great time to be working for the university, and there was a lot of support from the administration," Melton said. "We were working for New Mexico farmers."

That close relationship with the state's alfalfa growers meant wide acceptance of the varieties developed at NMSU's Agricultural Experiment Station. In fact, when Melton retired in 1989, the majority of the alfalfa acreage in the state was planted with varieties developed here Ð one of two accomplishments that makes Melton most proud.

"Back when he started, alfalfa was just kind of a crop you planted between other crops - a rotational crop," said Cliff Currier, '76,'78, who first studied under and then worked alongside Melton as part of NMSU's alfalfa breeding program. "Thirty years later, alfalfa was no longer a stepchild, it was a premier crop."

The other accomplishment that brings a smile to Melton's face is that to this day about 70 percent of the commercial alfalfa breeders in the United States got their start studying and working in the fields with him.

"He taught cutting-edge science in the classroom and practical applications in the field," Currier said. "He was one of those guys who was right there by your side working with you, and he wasn't afraid to work you."

Back in the office, Melton led the way in developing the College of Agriculture and Home Economics' doctoral degree in agronomy - a project that took three years and hours of paperwork to complete. Nearly 60 graduate students got their master's and doctoral degrees with him.

Among those, Melton worked with Fenny Dane, '73, the college's first female graduate student in plant breeding. And chances are pretty good that he was the only professor to direct the graduate studies of a Catholic nun - Aurelia Atencio, '74, '76 - who went on to save Peru's drought-stricken potato crop.

Melton and his wife, Lois McKinley Melton, '62, Õ68, keep close track of his former graduate students. Paging through an album of memorabilia from Melton's career, Lois said, "The students are all still friends - they're like family. When Bill had a heart attack in 1990, calls and letters came in from all over the world."

Over the years, Melton has played as hard as he worked, turning a childhood hobby making model airplanes into a lifelong passion. He is a three-time national champion (1981, 1987 and 1991) in the Navy carrier event at U-control model airplane flying competitions. "That's the equivalent of winning an Olympic event," Lois said.

Melton also is a charter member of Las Cruces' Model Airplane Club. There's even a local park named after him on Valley Drive in Las Cruces called the Bill Melton U-Control Field. "I think they named it after me because I used it the most," Melton joked.

At age 65, Melton still likes to put in eight-hour days building balsa and plywood model airplanes based on his own designs. Lois gave up encouraging him to scrub away the epoxy paint stains on his hands long ago.

He also likes to travel, hunt, fish, collect "junk" and trace his family tree. Some recent health problems have kept Melton from his hobbies, but he hopes to be back at them soon.

Besides, he'd like to win that national U-control championship at least one more time.

Natalie Johnson