Center News

Remembering David B. Danbom

The Center is deeply saddened to report that friend of the Center, David B. Danbom, passed away on June 26, 2026.

David was born in Denver, Colorado, on March 29, 1947. He attended Denver Public Schools and received degrees from Colorado State University (1969), and Stanford University (1970, 1974). He taught at North Dakota State University from 1974 until his retirement in 2010. During his career he received numerous teaching awards and published six books, most of which dealt with agricultural and rural history. 

The Bill Lane Center was especially grateful to David for his outstanding work editing the proceedings of the Center’s 2012 Rural Initiative conference in Ogden, Utah, published by Utah University Press in 2015 as Bridging the Distance: Common Issues of the Rural West.

David was active in the Agricultural History Society, serving on numerous committees over the years. He was a Fellow of the Society, served as President in 1990-91, and was awarded the Gladys Baker award for lifetime achievement in 2014. He is survived by his wife, Karen, daughter Elizabeth Cushmore, son Mark, and four grandchildren.

Recent Center News

Articles worth reading: July 6, 2026

Drying Colorado River tributaries send less water downstream; should people be allowed to bet on wildfires?; the Pacific Ocean is running a fever – what that could mean for coastal flooding; senate testimony of Klamath tribal member set to take over Indian Health Service; and more environmental news from around the West.

headshot of Dave Danbom. Dave is smiling with glasses and a hat, with a river in the background. 

Remembering David B. Danbom

The Center is deeply saddened to report that friend of the Center, David B. Danbom, passed away on June 26, 2026.David was born in Denver, Colorado, on March 29, 1947. He attended Denver Public Schools and received degrees from Colorado State University (1969), and Stanford University (1970, 1974).

For rural western hospitals, “distance is the emergency” – but not the only one

Already faced with extreme distances and a low population base, rural hospitals are being put on their heels by federal funding cutbacks. Specialty care is increasingly difficult to supply and closures loom as a possibility for dozens of facilities.