William Binnington Ward, Cornell professor emeritus of communication, died April 27 at Cayuga Medical Center following a brief illness. He was 90 years old.

Ward served as a Cornell faculty member for 63 years, teaching for 56 years (1945-2001) and serving as department chair for 26 years (1945-71). As chair, he was instrumental in expanding and shaping what is today called the Department of Communication at Cornell.

Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, July 16, 1917, Ward graduated from Utah State University (1940) with a degree in English and agricultural journalism and earned a master's degree in agricultural journalism at the University of Wisconsin (1941). After four years as an information specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its War Food Administration in Washington, D.C., Ward joined the Cornell faculty in 1945 as full professor and program head at age 28.

Ward shaped a new communication department that combined teaching, extension and research and included courses in agricultural journalism and public speaking and divisions for producing publications, visual aids, and radio, television and film programs. He assembled an impressive faculty, and during his tenure, the department won many national awards for excellence, student enrollments increased and a graduate program was initiated in 1969. Many of his own students went on to become correspondents for the Associated Press, The New York Times and other major international publications.

"Bill Ward was a generous and staunch supporter not only of the department that he founded but of Cornell," said Geri Gay, the current chair of the department. "He will be missed."

Ward also developed communication programs and publications for international distribution to such countries as the Philippines, Argentina, India, Nigeria, Syria, Indonesia, Guatemala and Honduras.

Appointed emeritus at Cornell in 1988, Ward received the Award of Excellence by the Agricultural Communicators in Education, an international professional organization, for his "substantial and creative contributions" to his field in 1998. He is the author and editor of several books and more than 400 articles published in national and regional agricultural magazines. He has been listed in "Who's Who in America" since 1982.

Ward is survived by his wife, Thora (Bracken) Ward, two daughters, two sons and extended family members.

A gathering with the family is scheduled from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., May 3, at Kendal of Ithaca's living room and will be followed by a private service. Memorial donations can be sent to the William B. Ward Scholarship Fund, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. The family welcomes remembrances of Ward from colleagues and friends through e-mail at williambwardtribute@gmail.com.