The word ‘retirement’ doesn’t exist in Leland Gile’s vocabulary or life.  There are too many things that interest him.  Most of his career has been devoted to learning and teaching about soil sciences. He is a distinguished international researcher and author in the soil science field, and is a member of multiple professional societies.

Gile has called Las Cruces home since 1957.  In conjunction with his career with the Soil Conservation Service, he joined the Desert Project under the auspices of New Mexico State University, focusing on the soil geomorphology of the Joranda Experiment Station. 

Gile has been a supporter of New Mexico State University for over 20 years.  He established his first endowed scholarship fund in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in 1993 to honor his late wife Dora Blossom Gile.   There are also funds bearing her name in biology, geology and the library’s Rio Grande Historical Collections and plans for more.

A member of NMSU’s 1888 Society, Gile has named his funds at NMSU as the beneficiaries of his estate.  “It has always been about the students,” he says.  His endowments support undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of fields related to his own career.

Gile has been an Earth Team Volunteer since 1987.  In 2001 he received the West Regional Earth Team Volunteer Award for his support of the conservation movement. The Earth Team award is presented annually by the National Association of Conservation Districts, the voice of America’s 3,000 local conservation districts.