2004 Dr. J. Bruce Stone, BSc(Agr) ’53, MSc(Agr) ‘54

Dr. Stone has been leader from the time he entered the Ontario Agricultural College as an undergraduate student. He served as class president and president of College Royal during his student days, and has maintained his commitment to both groups as an alumnus and faculty member.

He completed an undergraduate degree in animal science in 1953 and a master's degree in 1954; his PhD was earned at Cornell University. Dr. Stone taught dairy cattle production courses and supervised 16 graduate students during his career at Guelph. He retired as associate dean of OAC, after managing research funds from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food for more than ten years.

Dr. Stone has championed numerous fundraising projects that honour former OAC faculty while supporting current students. Among them are the Ross Cavers scholarships funded by his OAC '53 class, and he played an instrumental role in the establishment and funding of the George Raithby Memorial Fund and the F.W. Presant Memorial Lecture.

During his role of president of his class, he encouraged fellow alumni to support a 50th anniversary project that would benefit OAC recruitment efforts. Their projects included furnishings for War Memorial Hall, the Arboretum's rhododendron garden and the spring garden in the Rutherford Conservatory and Alumni Garden complex.

In addition to leadership within his year, he has provided financial planning leadership to the OAC Alumni Foundation and the OAC Alumni Association. He served as treasurer and managed the portfolio of the foundation for ten years with great success and is currently the senior portfolio manager of the joint foundation/alumni association investment committee.

Other University and community groups also benefit from his leadership. Dr. Stone was treasurer of the OAC 125 celebration of 1999 and a member of Alumni-in-Action. He is past-president of the University of Guelph Retirees Association, treasurer of the Guelph-Wellington Men's Club and a founding trustee of the Ontario 4-H Foundation.

Dr. Stone has been continuously engaged as an advocate volunteer in making the University of Guelph a better place. In 2004 he was recognized for his dedication by the University of Guelph Alumni Association when he was presented with the Alumni Volunteer Award.