August 25, 2003

Edwin "Ted" Kersting, Former Dean of Agriculture, Dies

Edwin J. "Ted" Kersting, professor and dean emeritus of agriculture and natural resources, died July 6.

He was 83.

Kersting, who lived in Columbus, Ohio, earned a master's degree in pathology from UConn in 1962. He was a Connecticut Dairy Extension veterinarian from 1962 to 1965. In 1966, he was named dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and director of the Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station, where he served for 17 years. He retired from the University in 1985.

Kersting, who was in the U.S. Army and Coast Guard, served with the American Field Service during World War II. He graduated from Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1952, and was in private veterinary practice in Ohio and West Virginia for 12 years. The Ohio Veterinary Medical Association selected him as Ohio Veterinarian of the Year in 1959, and in 1985, he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by the College of Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State University.

Kersting was coordinator of research at Hartford Hospital from 1985 to 1990, and was veterinary advisor to the hospital's surgical research department for 25 years. Kersting hosted 450 broadcasts of the New England radio show "Ecology".

He was a former member of the Board of Trustees Eastern States Exposition, the Connecticut State Board of Agriculture, the Connecticut Soil Conservation Advisory Committee, the Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Hartford Community Council, and was president of the Connecticut Lung Association.

He is survived by his wife Billy Kate, two children, and two grandchildren.