W. Neill Schaller ’51

Neill was born in Stamford, Conn., Jan. 2, 1929, to Katherine Elkin and Carleton Schaller 1912. He came to Princeton from Episcopal High School and majored in sociology. He was a member of Tower, co-manager of 150-pound football, and roomed with Tim Barclay and Bo and Bob Rogers.

After graduation, Neill served in the Army Counter Intelligence Corps. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Ph.D. in agricultural economics in 1960. He then went to work for the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

In 1961, he married Karen Decker. They moved to Chicago in 1969 when Neill became the associate director of the Farm Foundation. He returned to the USDA in 1976 to become administrator of the Cooperative Extension Service, the agriculture secretary’s assistant for consumer affairs, and the head of the low-input sustainable-agriculture program. In 1990, he left government service to become associate director of the Wallace Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, from which he retired in 1998.

Neill died of dementia Oct. 30, 2013, in Alexandria, Va. He is survived by Karen; their children, Emily, Matthew, and Diana; and two grandsons. He was predeceased by his sister, Peggy. His brother, Carleton Schaller Jr.’ 45, died April 23, 2014.