Stewart, Charles L.

YEARS IN THE DEPARTMENT:

1924-1959

RESEARCH INTEREST:

Agricultural Economics, Land Policy

BIOSKETCH:

Charles Leslie Stewart was born on September 3, 1890 in Moweaqua, Illinois. He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1910. Stewart first came to the University of Illinois to confer with then University President Edmund James to discuss a Rhodes scholarship. President James ended up convincing Stewart to pursue an academic career in economics.

Stewart then enrolled at the University of Illinois as a graduate student in 1910, where he earned his master’s degree in 1912 and then his doctorate degree in 1915. His work here earned him a yearlong grant to travel Europe as an academic fellow, but the outbreak of World War I prevented him from embarking on the journey. Instead, Stewart stayed in Urbana to work as an instructor in economics.

Dr. Stewart later served as the head of the Department of Sociology and Economics at the University of Arkansas and worked as a land tenure specialist in the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He returned to the U of I in 1924 to teach the University’s first courses in the marketing of farm products and rural credits.

During his 35-year tenure as a Professor at the U of I, Stewart became a leading authority on U.S. and foreign agriculture and land use. Much of his work as a land economist was on the topic of farm appraisal. Along with W.L. Burlison, H.C.M. Case, R.R. Hudelson and H.W. Mumford, he was instrumental in bringing that field to its present size and prominence.

Dr. Stewart retired from teaching at the University in 1959, but remained active part-time to serve as a consultant to the Illinois Division of Highways, assisting with the appraisal of rural property. He also worked as a consultant to the University of Kabul in Afghanistan in 1963. After a long illness, Dr. Stewart was deceased on September 1, 1974, at the age of 84.

PHD:

University of Illinois, 1915

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Stewart, Charles L. Land Tenure in the United States: With Special Reference to Illinois. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1916. Print.
Clawson, Marion, and Charles L. Stewart. Land Use Information: A Critical Survey of United States Statistics, Including Possibilities for Greater Uniformity. Washington: Resources for the Future; distributed by Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1966. Print.
Stewart, Charles L. Supply and Marketing of Soybeans and Soybean Products. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1932. Print.
Stewart, Charles L. Farm Real-Estate Valuations in Illinois with Special Reference to Township Averages: An Analysis of 1930 Census Data and Supplementary Information for Previous and Subsequent Dates. Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, 1934. Print.
Stewart, Charles L. Farm Inheritance Laws in Other Countries: What We Can Learn from Their Effects on Farms. Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, 1956. Print.

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