MANHATTAN -- Leonard William Schruben, 84, Manhattan, died Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2001, at a Manhattan hospital.

Mr. Schruben was professor emeritus of the department of agriculture economics at Kansas State University. Dr. Schruben wrote about and taught marketing, operations analysis, government policy and price analysis. He conducted marketing conferences in many countries. And he was a pioneer in practical applications of linear programming by showing how optimal feed mix recipes could be generated by a computer, which today is widely used in textbooks to introduce linear programming.

He also served in the Navy supply corps during World War II.

He was born Aug. 15, 1917, near Hoxie, the son of William H. and May E. Miley Schruben. He earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Kansas State University in 1939, a master's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois in 1940, a master of public administration degree in 1948, an AM in economics in 1949 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1950, all from Harvard University, where he was a Carnegie Fellow.

He joined the staff at Kansas State University in 1949 and retired in 1983.

Dr. Schruben was a member of the Kansas Wheat Commission, the Kansas Economic Development Commission and the Educational Advisory Committee of the Chicago Board of Trade. He was a contributing editor and columnist for the Kansas Farmer, editorial consultant and columnist for Capper Farmer and a columnist for Feedstuffs and Northwestern Miller publications.

He was a member of First Lutheran Church in Manhattan.

He married Abbie Miller in July 1940. She died Feb. 1, 1977. He married Florence E. Dumler in January 1979 in Manhattan. She survives.

Other survivors include two sons, Dale L. Schruben, Kingsville, Texas, and Lee W. Schruben, Berkeley, Calif.; five stepchildren, Jody Johnson, Manhattan, Jean Naegele, Hays, and Kay Dinkle, Rita Atkerson and Carl Dumler Jr., all of Russell; three grandchildren; 11 stepgrandchildren; and four stepgreat-grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Chapel in Manhattan. Burial will be in Sunrise Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m. today at the funeral chapel.

Memorial contributions may be made to the KSU Foundation for the Abbie Miller Schruben Home Economics Scholarship and sent in care of the funeral home.

Leonard Schruben (1917)