Donnell Hunt was born on August 11, 1926, in Danville, Indiana. He was one of three children. Following high school, he served in the U. S. Army of Occupation in Japan. After his army service, he attended Canterbury College in Danville, Indiana for a semester and then entered Purdue University where he received a B.S. degree in agricultural engineering, with distinction, in 1951.

After his graduation from Purdue, Don joined the faculty of Iowa State University as an instructor in agricultural engineering. While teaching, working on his M.S. and Ph.D., and assisting with the man­agement of the college farms, he wrote Farm Power and Machinery Management, which in 1996 was in its eighth edition. The book is used widely, including in India and South America where it has been translated into Spanish. Don earned his M.S. degree in 1954, his Ph.D. in 1958, and was promoted to assistant professor and then to associate professor.

He came to the University of Illinois in 1960. His research interests continued to center on machinery management and machines for spe­cial crops. Don's teaching and advising earned the respect of his stu­dents; in a 1982 survey of five and ten-year alumni, several singled him out as one teacher who had influenced their technical and professional development or had helped them with personal problems.

Hunt has won international recognition with his work in machin­ery management. He developed the important "timeliness" factor in machinery management theory, a critical factor in selecting optimum farm machinery sizes. He was also an early user of computers, later using minicomputers for teaching and research in agricultural engineering. Those who attended the university in the 1970s will remem­ber him demonstrating the solution of machinery management problems on the department's only minicomputer in a cramped room under the stairwell.

Hunt authored two additional major textbooks and many profes­sional articles. He has served in many leadership roles in the ASAE and been named a Fellow in that society. He has consulted or lectured in Ireland, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Canada, Iran, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the Philippines.