David C. Ludington, 76, professor emeritus of agricultural and biological engineering, founder of the Cornell Agricultural Energy Program (CAEP) and holder of three patents, died Feb. 12 at the Beechtree Care Center in Ithaca.

Born in Holley, N.Y., Ludington graduated from Cornell with a B.S. (1956) and an M.S. (1959), both in agricultural engineering; he earned a Ph.D. from Purdue University in agricultural and sanitary engineering in 1968.

He joined the faculty at Cornell in 1959 in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, where he taught and conducted research for 35 years before retiring in 1995. During that period he taught courses in electricity, refrigeration, energy technology, water pollution and environmental technology. As director of CAEP, he helped establish seven demonstration farms that showed the farm public what can be accomplished through the use of sound energy management technologies.

One research project he directed resulted in two patents on using adjustable speed drives with feedback control for vacuum pumps. More recently his investigations had focused on conserving energy and water in milk cooling.

After retiring from Cornell, he founded DL Tech Inc., a consulting firm that worked with dairy farmers to produce a better product, conserve energy and improve profitability. Recently he has directed work in anaerobic digestion on dairy farms.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Aletta (Manchester) Ludington, and extended family.

A celebration of Ludington's life will be held at Bethel Grove Bible Church, 1763 Slaterville Road, Ithaca, April 2 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Bethel Grove Bible Church Organ Fund. Bangs Funeral Home will be assisting the family.