ACE Home   About US  Retiree Profile   Directory  Memory Lane  Our History  Forum  International   Broadcast   Graphic Arts   Publication   Agr. Comm .Mgt.  News &Issue
 

 
 



DOWN MEMORY LANE

791.jpg


 

 

 

 

Scroll Down to find retiree's name

Memorable ACEs
This page is being developed by BoB Kern, Life Member

Adams, Bristow. President 1918-19. Cornell University

Writer, editor, artist, teacher, forester, and politician. Each of these describes the varied careers of Bristow Adams, who was born in Washington, D.C., Nov. 11, 1875. He attended public schools there and studied at Washington’s Corcoran School of Art. Prior to going to college, he was co-founder and editor of The Pathfinder, a Washington current affairs weekly that eventually became part of Farm Journal.

In 1900, he graduated from Stanford University with a degree in languages, literature, and art. At Stanford, he edited or illustrated student publications and founded the Stanford Chaparral, a campus humor magazine. As an undergraduate, he was an artist on the Bering Sea Fur Seal Commission, illustrating government reports of fur seal investigations.

Early in his career, he was associate editor of Forestry and Irrigation (1902-04), co-founder and managing editor of Washington Life (1903-04), editor of the American Spectator (19005-06)    and from 1906 to 1914, worked for the U.S. Forest Service as editor and forester.

In 1914, Adams went to Cornell as professor in the College of Agriculture. He also was the first head of the publications and information services of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics and the agricultural experiment station. During his tenure at Cornell, he taught journalism and drawing and painting.

In 1920, he established the Cornell chapter of Sigma Delta Chi and was later made an honorary national president of the society. He retired from Cornell in 1945 and served as acting mayor of Ithaca from 1948-55. He died in 1957 at the age of 82.

 

 

Arbour, Marjorie B. President 1950-51. Louisiana State University

Marjorie Arbour, the first woman elected president of AAACE, was born in 1897 in the Baton Route area. She began her career at Louisiana State University in 1920. In 1940, she was named agricultural editor of the Louisiana extension service.

For the first 16 years after getting her B.A. and M.A. degrees, she taught journalism at Louisiana State University while serving in the extension editorial service. She also taught a course in “Home Economics Journalism” at the University of Tennessee, and conducted special courses in journalism for teachers, ministers, home economists, and librarians. She retired from Louisiana State University in 1962 and died Nov. 20, 1971 at age 78.

 

 

Atwood, Millard V. President. 1922-23. Cornell University

Millar Atwood was born in Groton, N. Y. Aug. 6, 1886. He graduated from Cornell in 1910, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He later joined the Gannet Newspaper family and became managing editor of he Utica Observer-Dispatch. From Utica he went to Rochester, N.Y. to become managing editor of the Times-Union and was later named associate editor for all he Gannett papers.

He was secretary of the New York State Society of Newspaper Editors and of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE). He was slated to become president of ASNE when he was taken ill.

For several years he was with the extension service of Cornell University. It was during these years hat he served AAACE as its president. He did in Rochester Nov. 3, 1941 at the age of 55.

 

 

Ballew, Ralph J. President 1982-83. Mississippi State University

Ralph Ballew was born Mar. 28, 1930 in Blount County, Alabama. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural science from Auburn University in 1952 and became an assistant 4-H extension agent in Cherokee County, Alabama in 1954.

In 1960, he went to Michigan State University to work on an M.S. in visual communication. He returned to Auburn in 1961 where he worked in photography and editing. In 1966, he became a publications editor for the Tennessee Valley Authority at Muscle Shoals, Alabama and in 1973 went to Mississippi State.

His awards include Conservation Communicator of the Year and a merit award from Gamma Sigma Delta. In 1989, he received the ACE Professional Award. At the time of his retirement in April 1990, he was leader of extension information services at Mississippi State University.

 

 

Beckman, Frederick W. President 1915-16. Iowa State College

Frederick Beckman, a charter member of AAACE, was born Sept. 5, 1874 in Clayton, Iowa. Following graduation from State University of Iowa, Iowa City, he started his newspaper career with the Council Bluffs Nonpareil in 1898. A year later he began a two-year stint at the Sioux City Journal, then returned to the Nonpareil in 1902. In 1903 he became managing editor of the Des Moines Register and Leader.

From 1911 until World War I, he headed the Department of Technical Journalism at Iowa State College where he also served as experiment station editor. During World War I he served with the Army Educational Corps in France and Germany.

He left Iowa State in 1927 to become managing editor of the Farmer’s Journal in St. Paul, Minn. When that magazine merged with the Farm Journal, he moved to Knoxville, Iowa to become editor of the Knoxville Journal, serving there until his death.

Beckman was active in the YMCA, was a president of the Association of Teachers of Journalism, and an honorary president of the professional journalism society, Sigma Delta Chi. He was also active in Rotary International and the Presbyterian Church.

He died July 9, 1957 at the age of 82.

 

 

Benedict, Linda Foster. President 1992-94. University of Missouri

Linda Benedict was born in Waterloo, Iowa Aug. 3, 1947. She received a B.S. degree in home economics journalism from Iowa State University in 1969 and an M.A. degree in home economics education from the University of Northern Iowa in 1972.

She worked part-time in public relations for the Pillsbury Corporation while going to college. Her first job out of college was as a city reporter for the Waterloo Daily Courier.

From 1971 to 1973, she was a county extension home economist for Iowa State University and from 1973-79 was an extension communication specialist at Iowa State.

From Iowa State, Benedict went to work at Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri, where she was director of communications. In 1983 she joined the School of Journalism staff as a visiting instructor and interim director of the Missouri Health and Nutrition Journalism program.

She became an extension communication specialist and adjunct professor at the University of Missouri, where she also earned her Ph.D. Benedict next worked at Southern University and then on to Louisiana State University.

She was the second person to serve more than a one-year term as ACE president; as president-elect, she assumed the presidency when Gary Hermance, University of Florida, died during his tenure.

 

 

Bond, Charles Alvin. President 1966-67. Washington State University.

Al Bond was born May 21, 1904 in Grants Pass, Oregon. He received a B.A. degree in history from Willamette University, Salem, Oregon in 1926.

His professional career began as a farm reporter for the Wenatchee, Washington, Daily Herald in 1933. He then served as extension editor at Washington State from 1935 to 1940. During World War II he worked in the Office of Information at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

In 1945 he returned to Seattle, where he was radio farm director for KIRO. In 1949 he returned to Washington State University to serve as extension editor until retiring in 1969.

In addition to ACE, he belonged to the National Association of Farm Broadcasters.

 

 

Bostian, Loyd Russell. President 1979-80. University of Wisconsin

Loyd Bostian was born Jan. 14, 1932 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural economics from North Carolina State University in 1954, an M.S. degree in agricultural journalism in 1955 and Ph.D. in mass communications in 1959—both from the University of Wisconsin.

He joined the Department of Agricultural Journalism as an instructor in 1955, became an assistant professor in 1959, associate professor in 1962, and professor in 1968.

At Wisconsin he taught advanced publications editing and production, and basic journalistic writing. In addition to ACE, he was a member of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

 

 

Reuben Brigham. President 1924-25. U. S. Department of Agriculture

Reuben Brigham was born Dec. 13, 1887 in Marlboro, Mass. He was the son of a farmer and professor of agriculture. He graduated from the Maryland Agricultural College (later the University of Maryland) in 1908. For the next five years he operated a farm in Maryland, then returned to the university in 1913 to serve as secretary of Alumni Affairs to the university president. When the Smith-Lever Act established the extension service later that year, he joined the Maryland College of Agriculture staff where he was their first extension editor and 4-H club agent.

In 1917 he joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s extension service in Washington, D.C. to develop an editorial and visual-aids service for extension editors. He also started the Extension Service Review magazine in 1930.

During the depression years of the 1930s, he joined the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) where he was in charge of a regional section of the “Triple A” information office. In this position, he “saw to it that the college editors of the nation were used in all information plans and that the local state extension staff, including the editor, was not by-passed. . ..” He later returned to the extension service and was named assistant director.

He died unexpectedly Dec. 6, 1946 while attending the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago—one week short of his 59th birthday. Following Reuben Brigham’s death, Past President Frank Jeter (North Carolina) said, “Brigham has as much to do with the successful formation and organization of the American Association of Agricultural College Editors as any other one single person.”  Since 195? AAACE/ACE has given the annual Reuben Brigham Award to honor the contributions in agricultural, home economics, and rural communication of a person outside its membership—the organization’s highest award.

 

 

Bryan, Arthur Buist. President, 1923-24

Arthur Bryan was born June 7, 1875, on a farm in Barnwell County, South Carolina. He worked his way through Clemson College nd received a B.S. degree in 1898 in science and agriculture. He then earned a B.Lit. degree from George Peabody College at Nashville, Tennessee. He returned to Clemson in 1901 and was associated with the college for 45 years until his retirement. He spent his first 17 years at Clemson as an English teacher.

In 1918 he organized an agricultural publications department at Clemson where he was responsible for bulletins, news articles, and newsletters in agriculture.

He retired in 1947 and continued to write, speak, and travel until his death in 1959 at the age of 83.

 

 

Byrne, Charles D. President 1931-32, 19 32-33. Oregon State College

Charles Byrne, the first AAACE president to serve two consecutive terms, was born Feb. 8, 1895 in Madison, Wisconsin. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. degree in education from Stanford University.

He taught school in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and was head of the journalism department at South Dakota State College before moving on to Oregon State in 1929 to become head of the industrial journalism department. In 1932 he was named head of the division of information for the state board of higher education. He later became secretary to the board and assistant to the chancellor. During his career, he wrote three books on news writing and management of higher education.

From 1950 to 1955 he was chancellor at Oregon State. He retired in 1958 and lived for  several years at Palm Desert, California. He died in Eugene, Oregon on June 9, 1970 at the age of 75.

 

 

Calvert, Patricia. President 1985-86. U. S. Department of Agriculture

Patricia Calvert was born in 1936 in Washington, D.C. She received a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in 1976(?). While working for her degree, she was employed full-time by the information and communications staff of the extension service at the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Before joining the extension service, she worked for USDA’s Farmers Home Administration and in private industry. She joined the extension service in 1972 as a public information officer, producing general information for the agency.

From 1978 to 1981, she headed the magazine unit of the science and education administration, editing Extension Review and Agricultural Research magazines.

In 1984 she was named deputy director of extension’s information and communications staff, which later became the communications, information, and technology staff.

 

 

Carmichael, J. Pledger. President 1968-69

Pledger Carmichael was born July 27, 1917 in Carroll County, Georgia. He received an A. B. degree in journalism in 1940 and an M.S. degree in agricultural economics in 1953, both from the University of Georgia.

He worked for Carroll County newspapers from 1937 until 1942 when he joined the university staff as assistant extension editor. In 1946 he was named associate editor and in 1956 became editor. In 1964 he was promoted to professor. When he retired in 1975, he was chairman of the Division of Agricultural Information at the university.

He was instrumental in development of the ACE Quarterly and a leader in the organization of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT).

He was a member of Sigma Delta Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, Mu Zeta Alpha, Zeta Sigma Phi, Epsilon Sigma Phit, and the Athens, Georgia, Rotary Club.

 

 

Church, George F. President 1951-52. Oklahoma State University

George Church was born April 28, 1902 in Allenville, Wisconsin. He attended the State Normal School at Oskosh for two years, then attended the University of Kansas where he received an A.B. degree in journalism in 1925 and a master’s degree in 1938.

His career included newspaper work in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Kansas. In 1930 he went to Oklahoma A&M College, now Oklahoma State University, to teach journalism, edit publications, and handle publicity for the university. He was later named experiment station editor and in 1954 was named head of publications.

In addition to AAACE, he was a member of Delta Sigma Chi. He died suddenly on Aug. 11, 1961 at his Stillwater home. He was 59.

 

 

Cooper, J. Francis. President 1937-38. University of Florida

Frank Cooper was born in 1898 in Alabama. He received a B.S. degree from Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn and an M.S. degree from the University of Florida.

He established the Florida Farm Hour radio program in 1928, one of the oldest continuously broadcast farm shows in the United States.

He served in the military during World War I and later worked for a newspaper in Florida. He also worked for Progressive Farmer magazine before going to the University of Florida in 1925. Progressive Farmer named him Man of the Year in Service to Florida Agriculture in 1953.

He retired from the university in 1961 but continued to write for state and regional publications until shortly before his death in 1984 at the age of 86.

 

 

Copeland, O. B. President 1958-59. North Carolina State University

O. B. Copeland was born in 1916 in Carroll County, Georgia. He received a B.S. degree in 1938 and a master’s degree in 1952, both from the University of Georgia. In 1958 he received a Ph.D. in agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin.

His career assignments included youth editor of Progressive Farmer magazine, editor of the Georgia agricultural extension service, editor, college of agriculture, University of Georgia, and head, department of agricultural information at North Carolina State University. In 1959 he rejoined Progressive Farmer as associate executive editor and was the first editor of Southern Living magazine. He was later named vice president for Southern Progress Corporation, publisher of Progressive Farmer and Southern Living magazines. He retired Dec. 1, 1980 and devoted much of his retirement to writing personal memoirs. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Georgia.

 

 

Crawford, Nelson Antrim. President 1917-18. Kansas State Agricultural College

Nelson Crawford was born May 4, 1888 in Miller, South Dakota. He had several firsts to his credit. He wrote the first college textbook on journalism ethics, and he was the first director of information for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He went to Washington in 1925 when Kansas State College President William Jardine was appointed Secretary of Agriculture by President Calvin Coolidge.

He graduated from high school in Council Bluffs, Iowa and went to work as a writer for newspapers in Iowa and Nebraska until 1909. In 1910 he received a B.A. degree in English from the University of Iowa, and in 1914 he received an M.A. degree from the University of Kansas. He later did graduate work at the Kansas State Agricultural College.

From 1914 to 1925 he was editor of the Kansas Industrialist. During this same period, he also was on the faculty of Kansas State Agricultural College, going from instructor to head of the Department of Industrial Journalism, head of the Printing Department, and director of the College Press Service.

In 1925 he went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He returned to Topeka, Kansas in 1928 to work for Household magazine, serving there as editor-in-chief until 1951 when he became editor and publisher of Author and Journalist. From 1958 to 1963, he was professor of science writing for the Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka.

Crawford was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Delta Chi, the Masons, and the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He died in Topeka June 30, 1963 at the age of 75.

 

 

Dodrill, Steve. President 2009-2010, Oregon State University

 

 

Donnelan, Larue M. President 1997-1998. University of Tennessee

 

 

Elder, C.R. President 1946-47, Iowa State College

“Dutch” Elder was born February 25, 1907 on a farm near Klemme, Iowa. In 1929, he received a B.S. degree in journalism from Iowa State College. Following graduation, he worked for The Farmer’s Wife Magazine, the Blooming Prairie (Minnesota) Times and the Osceola (Iowa) Times.

He joined the Iowa State staff in 1941 as associate editor for the extension service. In 1946, he was named the first director of information of Iowa State when all media services were brought together. In 1963, he resigned to join the Iowa State University Foundation where he served as its first field secretary and later as executive director. In 1966, he accepted a two-year assignment in the University of Nebraska’s program at the Institute of Colombian Agriculture, Bogotá. He received the U.S. Department of Agriculture Superior Service Award in 1953. He retired June 30, 1976 and was named professor emeritus.

 

 

Ferringer, Edward C. President 1974-75, Purdue University

Ed Ferringer was born October 22, 1926, in Sunman, Indiana. He received a B.S. degree in agriculture in 1950 and an M.S. degree in education in 1962, both from Purdue University. He began his career at Purdue as a visual aids specialist in 1950. In 1953, he became a radio-TV specialist and in 1967 was named acting head of the Agricultural Information and Audio Visual Production Department. A year later, he became head of the department and an associate professor. He was head of the department until his retirement.

In addition to ACE, he is a member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, the Agricultural Relations Council, Alpha Zeta, Epsilon Sigma Phi, the Lions Club, and has been active in the Boys Scouts. He retired from Purdue in 1981 and settled in Naples, Florida.

 

 

Filipic, Martha, President 2000-01, The Ohio State University

 

Fleming, John Rimer. President 1928-29, The Ohio State University

Jack Fleming was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1900, graduated from Cornell University in 1922, and became a reporter for the Springfield, (Massachusetts) Union. In 1923, he moved to Columbus, Ohio to become extension news editor at The Ohio State University.

He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1930 as a special assistant to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Hyde. He later wrote speeches for Secretary Henry Wallace. In 1941, he became deputy director of the wartime Office of Facts and Figures, which later became the Office of War Information.

In 1943, he joined the staff of U.S. News as an editor. When U.S. News merged with World Reports in 1948, Fleming became editor of the international news staff. He retired from the magazine in 1966, and died in 1986 at the age of 86 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

 

 

Fredericks, Eldon E. President 1981-82, Purdue University

Eldon Fredericks was born May 16, 19334 in Wakarusa, Indiana. He received a B.S. degree in agriculture and an M.S. degree in extension communications, both from Purdue. He began his career as an information officer in the Army Ordnance Training Command in Maryland in 1956.

Following military service, he became publications editor at Purdue in 1958, serving until 1967 when he moved to the University of Minnesota as publications editor. He then sered as acting head of the Department of Information and Agricultural Journalism there from 1974-77, before going to Michigan State as manager of extension-research information.

In 1981 he returned to Purdue to become assistant director for the extension service and head of the Department of Agricultural Communication.

 

Furbee, Robert R. President 1999-00, Kansas State University

 

Gildersleeve, Thomas W. President 1947-48, North Dakota State University

Tom Gildersleeve was born March 23, 1904 in Story County, Iowa. He received a B.S. degree in technical journalism from Iowa State College in 1927.

His first job following graduation was as assistant extension and experiment station editor at Iowa State. In 1929, he moved to North Dakota to become extension and experiment station editor. When he retired December 31, 1966, he was head of Agricultural Communications at North Dakota State University and was name professor emeritus.

He joined AAACE in 1930 and served as secretary-treasurer and vice president. He was also granted honorary state 4-H and Future Farmers of American degrees.

In addition to ACE, he is a life member of Sigma Delta Chi and Epsilon Sigma Phi. After  retiring, he moved to Rochert, Minnesota.

 

Gould, Frankie. President 2008-09. Louisiana State University

 

Graham, Gordon Jackson. President 1976-77, University of Arizona

Gordon Graham was born June 17, 1924, in South Bend, Indiana. He received a B.S. degree in agriculture in 1948 and an M.S. degree in agricultural economics in 1952, both from Purdue University. He worked for the Purdue University Alumni Association after graduation, and later sold agricultural feeds.

In 1962, he became agricultural editor and later director of communications at the University of Wyoming. In 1968, he moved to the University of Arizona where he became agricultural editor and professor of agricultural education. He retired from the extension service June 30, 1986, and from the University of Arizona June 30, 1991.

He is also a member of Sigma Delta Chi, Epsilon Sigma Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta, Alpha Epsilon Rho and other organizations.

 

Graham, Ralston. President 1971-72, University of Nebraska

Rollie Graham was born May 16, 1914 in Avoca, Nebraska. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1936 with an A.B. degree in journalism. His first job wason the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal as a market editor.

He later worked for the Scottsbluff Star Herald, the Mineral Wells (Texas) Index, and then joined the University of Nebraska staff as experiment station editor in 1947. In 1963, he was named chairman of the Agricultural Communications Department where he also served as extension editor. In the middle 1960s, he served as coordinator for AAACE headquarters when it was located at the University of Nebraska. He retired in 1979.

 

Greeneisen, Jon Franklin. President 1970-71. Farm Credit Administration

Jon Greeneisen was born in 1933 in central Ohio. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural economics from The Ohio State University and an M.S. degree in communications from the University of Illinois.

In 1957, he became assistant editor for the Illinois College of Agriculture and was head of the university’s agricultural communications program. He joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. in 1961 as a foreign training officer in the Office of Communications.

He was named director of information for the Farm Credit Administration in 1965, and in 1978 moved to the Central Bank for Cooperatives in Denver, Colorado. He advanced to the position of senior vice president and manager of the corporate services division for the bank.

 

Hamilton, Ralph L. President 1969-70, University of Tennessee

Ralph Hamilton was born November 21, 1928  in Hillsboro, Ohio. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural economics from The Ohio State University in 1949, an M.S. degree in agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin in 1955, and a Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Wisconsin in 1969.

He worked for the Ohio Farmer magazine and in 1955 became assistant agricultural editor at Michigan State University. He moved to Tennessee in 1960 to become editor and head of the department of information. In 1973, he became director of public information at Oklahoma Sate University.

In addition to ACE, he is a member of Sigma Delta Chi, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and Epsilon Sigma Phi.

 

Hasselman, James B. President 1927-28, Michigan State University

Jimmy Hasselman was born in Michigan in 1891. He started free-lancing for newspapers while teaching English at Michigan Agricultural College in 1915. In 1917, he started Michigan’s extension information service.

In 1922, he did agricultural and home economics broadcasts over a student-built radio station, which later became WKAR, the official radio station of Michigan State University. In 1923, he became the first person to broadcast a Michigan State University football game. The broadcast was from a telephone booth at the top of the stands of the “Old College Field.”

He later moved to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., where he retired in 1961 as director of information for the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. He died in 19688 in Washington, D.C., at the age of 77.

 

Hatch, J. Cordell. President 1977-78. Pennsylvania State University

Cordell Hatch was born March 28, 1933 in Bethel Springs, Tennessee and grew up on a general crops and livestock farm.

He received a B.S. degree in agricultural education from the University of Tennessee in 1954. In 1966, he received an M.S. degree in agricultural journalism, and in 1968 a Ph.D. in extension administration and educational communications both at the University of Wisconsin.

He began his extension career as an assistant editor at Tennessee in 1954. In 1959, he moved to Pennsylvania State University to become extension radio editor.

In addition, he has servied in several foreign countries including Colombia, Argentina, Swaziland, the Philippines, Nepal, Japan, and Pakistan.

While he was ACE president, the name of the organizations was changed to Agricultural Communicators in Education.

Hatch retired December 31, 1991. In retirement, he has served as information transfer adviser in Pakistan.

 

Hatesohl, Delmar E. President 1975-76. University of Missouri.

Delmar Hatesohl was born September 19, 1929 in Lin, Kansas. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural journalism from Kansas State University in 1951, an M.S. degree in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri in 1959, and a Ph.D. degree in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State University in 1966.

Following graduation from Kansas State, he served in the U.S. Air Force and retired with reserve status of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1954, he joined the Missouri information staff as assistant editor where he later was involved in conducting mass media training for extension staff and others. At the time of his retirement in 1985, he was associate director for extension information.

 

Hermance, Gary Charles. President 1992. University of Florida

Gary Hermance grew up in Miami, Florida, where he was born January 15, 1946. He received a B.A. degree in English from the University of Oklahoma in 1968 and an M.A. degree in English from the University of Florida in 1970.

Following the master’s degree, he began work in agricultural communications as an editorial assistant at the University of Florida in 1972. In 1972, he was named art director for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS) at the university.

In the mid 1970’s he became heard of the Printing and Graphics section of IFAS editorial, and in 1990, was named associate director of IFAS information, now Educational Media and Services.

He has been an ACE member since 1978. In 1982, he received the Pioneer ACE award and an Award of Excellence for graphic design. He resigned in October 1992 because of health concerns.

 

Higbee, Arthur L. President 1978-79, Utah State University

Art Higbee was born August 12, 1921 in Benton, Arizona. He received a B.S. degree in business administration in 1948 and an M.S. degree in speech (radio-television) in 1965, both from Utah State University. In 1970, he received a Ph.D. degree in speech from Michigan State University.

Before joining the Utah extension service in 1958, he worked for several radio and television stations in Utah. While working for his Ph.D. degree, he was an instructor in the radio-television department at Michigan.

In 1970,he became associate director for Media Production, Learning Resources Program at Utah State, and was manager of state-wide television and radio programs.

From 1982 until his retirement in 1987, he was professor and director of telecommunications at Utah State.

Other memberships include the Utah Telecommunications Association, Utah Broadcasters Association and the Broadcast Educators Association.

 

Hopkins, Andrew W. President 1933-34, University of Wisconsin

Andrew Hopkins was born July 19, 1880 in Leeds, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1903 and during the next 10 years helped organize a livestock breed association and worked as a farm paper editor. He served on the university faculty from 1913 to 1950, where he was chairman of the Agricultural Journalism Department. He was also extension editor, experiment station editor and college editor.

He was keenly interested in broadcasting and in 1919 made it a regular part of his department’s information service, thought to be the first use of broadcasting in any university.

Professor Hopkins died April 4, 1973 in Madison. He was 92.

 

Jeter, Frank. President 1919-20, North Carolina State College

Frank Jeter was born May 2, 1891, in Union County, South Carolina. He graduated from Clemson Agricultural College in 1911 with a B.S. degree in agriculture. His first job following graduation was assistant to the director of the North Carolina agricultural experiment station. He spent one year (1913-14) in private industry, but returned to the college in 1914 as agricultural editor, eventually becoming director of communications.

During his 40-plus years at N.C. State, he contributed much to the development of agriculture in North Carolina. He encouraged better farming and homemaking, and he interpreted scientific agriculture to make it understandable by farmers.

In 1948, Clemson University conferred on him an honorary doctor of science degree. He also received the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Superior Service Award and a certificate for meritorious service to agriculture from the North Carolina Farm Bureau.

He continued as director of communications until his death on September 16, 1955. He was 64 years old.

 

Johnson, James L. President 1972-73, Washington State University

Jim Johnson was born March 10, 1928 in Davenport, Nebraska. He received a B.S. degree in speech and radio in 1953 and an M.A. degree in extension administration in 1964, both from Washington State University. He served as radio-television specialist at the University of Idaho from 1962-64, and in the same position at Washington State University from 1964 to 1967.

In 1967, he returned to Idaho to become heard of the Agricultural Information Department, and in 1971, was named to the same position at Washington State. He went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1974 to become head of the radio service, and was later named chief of radio and television.

He retired in 1988 and returned to the Pacific Northwest to settle in Salem, Oregon.

 

Johnston, Thomas R. President 1939-40, Purdue University

Tommy Johnston was born March 7, 1893 in Bluffton, Indiana. While a student at Indiana State Teachers College, he worked for the Terre Haute Star. He worked for other Indiana newspapers, including the Indianapolis Star, before joining the Purde staff in December 1917.

Four years after joining the Purdue staff, he established the Bureau of Information and served as its director until he retired 45 years later.

Johnston was a 33rd degree mason and belonged to many other fraternal, lodge, and church organizations. In 1956, he took a leave of absence to seek the Indiana gubernatorial nomination, but was unsuccessful in his bid.

He retired in 1963 and died in Lafayette in 1967 at the age of 74.

 

Kearl, Bryant Eastham. President 1963-64, University of Wisconsin

Bryant Kearl was born September 21, 1921 at Paris, Idaho. He worked on a small dairy farm and at various times as a mill hand, bank teller, and newspaper correspondent while completing his B.S. degree in political science and journalism at Utah State University in 1941.He earned an M.S. degree in agricultural journalism in 1942 from the University of Wisconsin, and the Ph.D. degree in political science and journalism in 1951 from the University of Minnesota.

From 1941-1963, with two years out for Navy service, he taught agricultural journalism, and was on the editorial staff at the University of Wisconsin. He headed this staff from 1951-1963, and later served as associate dean of the graduate school, dean of university outreach, and vice chancellor from 1968-70 and again from 1978-84. He retired in 1989.

In 1952, Kearl worked with past ACE President Hadley Read (1961-62) in a Marshall Plan program to promote agricultural journalism as a tool in rebuilding German agriculture. He also spent short periods at universities in East Africa and Australia, and from 1970-74 headed the Asia Office of the Agricultural Development Council.

 

Keilholz, Frederick Johnson. President 1940-41, University of Illinois

“Dutch” Keilholz was born in Fortville, Indiana, July 6, 1898. He received a B.S. degree in animal husbandry from Purdue University in 1920, and while a student at Purdue, worked in the extension editorial office. Following graduation, he was named extension editor at the University of Kentucky.

He left Kentucky in 1923 to supervise press, radio and ogther information activities at the University of Illinois. He served on the Illinois staff until 1943, whe he left to become associate editori of Country Gentleman at Philadelphia. At Illinois he taught agricultural and home economics journalism and served on a number of major university committees.

He served eight years on the Urbana board of education and was its secretary. He was also a member of Rotary International, Alpha Gamma Ro, Sigma Delta Chi and Epsilon Sigma Phi.

In 1958, he became editor of the Journal of American Insurance and information director for the American Mutual Insurance Alliance in Chicago, retiring from that position in 1965. He died suddenly in Chicago, Illinois, March 7 at the age of 67.

 

Kern, K. Robert. President 1965-66, Iowa State University.

Bob Kern was born December 31, 1923 in Pittsfield, Illinois. He received a B.S. degree in agriculture from the University of Illinois in 1948, an M S. degree in technical journalism from Iowa State University in 1955, and a Ph.D. degree in cooperative extension administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1961.

His extension career began in 1948 as assistant farm advisor at Decatur, Illinois. In 1950 he joined the Iowa State College information staff and at the time of his retirement in 1980 was professor of journalism and mass communication and extension editor.

In addition to ACE, he has also served on the Iowa Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and the Iowa State faculty council. He was named a fellow of the National Extension Center for Advanced Study at the University of Wisconsin. In 1984, ACE honored him with the professional award; he had received the Agricultural Communications Award in 1958, and the International Award of Excellence in 1995.

After retiring, he had assignments in Mexico and the Netherlands and fulfilled consulting missions in more than 40 countries on five continents. He also has served on a temporary assignment as professor of journalism and mass communications at Iowa State.

 

King, David A. President. 1991-92, Purdue University

Dave King was born April 7, 1950 in Tracy, California, and grew up on an almond farm, working summers in the orchards, vineyards, and tomato fields of that area during his college years.

He received a B.A. degree in mass communications in 1972 from the California State University at Chico and an M.A. in journalism in 1983 from the University of Oregon. Following his undergraduate work, he was a free-lance writer, photographer, and film maker in northern California and Nevada for five years.

From 1976 to 1986, he was assistant editor for the agricultural experiment station at Oregon State University. While there, he co-produced an award-winning documentary, “The Cowboy in Magnolia,” for the National Public Broadcasting System. Among the awards the film received, were a gold medal at the Houston International Film Festival, a silver plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Science-in-Society Journalism award from the National Association of Science Writers.

In 1986, he became public affairs specialist at Oregon State, acting associate director in 1987 and electronic media coordinator in 1988. In 1990, he moved to Purdue University to become head of Agricultural Communication Services.

 

Kingdon, Lorraine B. President 1980-81, University of Arizona

Lorraine Kingdon, ACE’s second woman president, was born February 11, 1927 in Minot, North Dakota. She received a B.S. degree in chemistry from North Dakota State University and an M.S/ degree in agriculture and food economics from the University of Delaware.

Her first land-grant work was at Delaware in 1965 as an assistant editor. She left Delaware in 1972 to join the Washington State University staff as a consumer affairs communication specialist. In 1980, she became head of the Agricultural Communications Department at Arizona and in 1984, switched to multimedia specialist.

She received ACE’s Agricultural Communications Award in 1971, the Professional ACE award in 1976, and the Award of Merit in 1986.

 

Kinghorn, Ira Glenn. President 1936-37, Colorado A&M College

Glenn Kinghorn was born January 5, 1894 in McCook, Nebraska. He later moved with his family to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he graduated from high school. He attended the Agricultural College of Colorado, now Colorado State University, for three years until World War I interrupted his studies.

Following the war, he worked for the Great Western Sugar Co. before becoming farm editor of the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper in 1919. In 1921, he became publications editor at the college. During those years, he also operated a local nursery with his father. He retired from the college in 1946 and worked a year as director of information for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Washington, D.C.

In 1948, he returned to Fort Collins and worked in horticultural research for the Colorado Game, Fish and Parks Department before retiring a second time in 1963.

He died in Fort Collins, December 27, 1971, nine days short of his 77th birthday.

 

Kingsley, Ken. President 1998-99, Oregon State University

 

 

Kirkwood, William Paul. President 1934-35, University of Minnesota

William Kirkwood was born January 9, 1867 in Cross Park, Ohio. He received a B.A. degree from Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota in 1890 and in 1922 received an M.A. degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

From 1897 to 1907, he worked as a reporter, telegraph editor, assistant city editor and literary editor for the Minneapolis Journal. From 1907 to 1913, Kirkwood free-lanced as a magazine writer. In 1914, he joined the University of Minnesota staff as director of publications, working in that position until he retired January 1, 1936.

While at the university, he organized and taught the first journalism class there in 1915. These courses led to the establishment of the university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He also started the university’s printing department, initiated a weekly radio broadcasting service, and started a long tradition of short courses for weekly newspaper editors in cooperation with the Minnesota Newspaper Association.

 

Lee, Richard L. President 1967-68

Dick Lee was born November 18, 1925 in Linn County, Missouri, where he grew up on a farm. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural journalism in 1953 and an M.A. degree in journalism in 1958, both from the University of Missouri. He received his Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Iowa.

He joined the Missouri staff in 1954. In 1958, he became associate agricultural editor, and in 1959 was named agricultural editor. He was awarded the academic rank of professor in 1960. At the time of his retirement in 1988, he was chairman of the College of Agriculture’s Department of Extension Education, agricultural editor, and director of extension information. In 1982, he received the ACE Professional Award.

 

Lemons, W. Edd. President 1962-63, Oklahoma State University

Edd Lemons was born November 15, 1905 in Indian Territory in McClain, Oklahoma. He grew up on a farm near Webbers Fall, Oklahoma, and received degrees in education and journalism before becoming a teacher in the public schools of Webbers Falls.

He began as an agricultural editor for the Daily Phoenix and the Times Democrat in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He later joined the Oklahoma Department of Vocational Agriculture as executive secretary of the Future Farmers of America.

He retired in the mid-1960s as head of the agricultural information department at Oklahoma State, a position he was appointed to in 1954. In 1966, he received a Superior Service Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

He was a director of the Isaak Walton League of America and a member of the Rotary Club. In retirement he worked for the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Japan, Korea and Turkey. He was also a hospital volunteer.

He died at Thousand Oaks, California, August 8, 1985 at the age of 79.

 

Longsdorf, Lisle Leslie. President 1945-46, Kansas State College

Lisle Longsdorf was born January 1, 1901 in Arkansas, Wisconsin, and attended high school in Durand, Wisconsin. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin in 1925, and a master’s degree from Wisconsin in 1926. Following graduation, he was employed by an advertising agency in Minnenapolis, Minnesota, and later became technical editor for the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin.

He went to Kansas State in July 1927 as extension editor and radio program director. Here, he was in charge of the college radio station, KSAC, a pioneer in the field of educational radio.

In 1953, he spent three months in Iran as a consultant for the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1954, he served one year as assistant director of information in USDA and was awarded the Department’s Superior Service award in 1955.

He died August 10, 1991 in Ithaca, New York, at the age of 90.

 

Mackay, Bentley B. President 1929-30, Louisiana State University

Bentley Mackay was born in 1894 in Hope Villa, Louisiana. Records indicate that he did not have a college degree, but did complete agriculture and journalism courses under another AAACE past-president, Marvin Osborn.

He joined the agricultural extension service in 1920 as editor of publications. A year later he became extension editor, a position he held until 1941 when he was loaned to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1935, he resigned to join the field information staff of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration of USDA.

He later worked for USDA in Washington, D.C. and in 1944, was named agricultural attaché at Recife, Brazil. He returned to LSU in 1946 to become publicity director of the rodeo and livestock show. He held that position until 1960 when he retired from LSU to become editor for the Council on Aging.

In addition to AAACE, he was a member of the American Legion and Sigma Delta Chi. He died in Hope Villa December 16, 1975 at the age of 81.

 

Marks, Joseph James. President 1987-88, University of Missouri

Joe Marks was born August 2, 1937, in Watertown, Wisconsin, and was raised on a dairy farm. He was an honor graduate of Mt. Horeb High School and received a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1959. In 1967, he received an M.S. degree from Michigan State University.

In 1961, he was named assistant experiment station editor at Michigan State, and was later promoted to project leader and extension and research editor. In 1973, he moved to Missouri, and at the time of his ACE presidency, was news director and professor for agricultural research and extension information.

Marks spent 1992 in Perth, Australia as information advisor for the Australian Agriculture Protection Board (APB). He traveled throughout Australia writing news and feature stories, doing still and video photography and making media contacts. He also taught communication techniques to APB officers.

His ACE awards include the Professional Award (1986), the Pioneer Award (1967), Agricultural Communications Award (1970), Award of Excellence (1979) and an ACE Service Award (1981).

In addition to ACE, Marks was a member fo Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta and the American Agricultural Editors Association.

 

McAlpin, Valerie F. President 1944-95, North Carolina

 

McClelland, Joe. President 1957-58, University of Arizona

“Cactus Joe” McClelland was born April 5, 1909 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Following high school there, he attended Colorado Agricultural College, and graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

He began his career as an assistant extension editor in Colorado where he worked eight years. After World War II, he returned to Fort Collins and became news editor. In 1947, he and his family moved to Tucson, Arizona where he was extension information specialist at the University of Arizona.

After 24 years in Tucson, he retired with the title “Agricultural Information Specialist Emeritus.” The McClellands returned to Colorado following Joe’s retirement. He died in Fort Collins, Colorado, January 18, 1987. He was 77.

 

McClintock, James Earl. President 1916-17, The Ohio State University

James McClintock was born in Whigville in Noble County, Ohio, September 9, 1881. Whigville no longer exists. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in agriculture, and in 1929, he graduated with a M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin. Upon graduation from Ohio State, he worked briefly in a bank, then worked

About two years as a scientific assistant in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Soils in Washington, D.C.

He went to the University of Maine in September 1907 as an assistant professor of agronomy. After two years in Maine, he rejoined the government in Washington, D.C. as a specialist in agricultural education in the Bureau of Education at the Department of the Interior.

From 1910 to 1914, he was an agriculturist for the International Correspondence School in Scranton, Pennsylvania. While there, he wrote and edited 15 volumes on agriculture for the International Library of Technology. His experience with correspondence course brought him back to Ohio State in 1914 as supervisor of publications and later as extension editor, a position he held until he retired in 1950.

He died in Columbus on October 2, 1962, at the age of 81.

 

Meisnenbach, Terry. President, 1995-96, University of Nebraska

 

Moreland, Wallace S. President, 1941-42. Rutgers University

Wallace Moreland was born February 21, 1901 in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1926, he received a B.S. degree in poultry husbandry from Connecticut Agricultural College (now the University of Connecticut) where he was quarterback on the university’s only undefeated football team in 1924.

Following graduation he taught poultry husbandry and was assistant football coach at Connecticut. In 1928 he went to Rutgers as assistant extension editor. In 1931, he became extension editor, and in 1937 was made an assistant professor of journalism. In 1942, he was promoted to assistant to the president at Rutgers, and in 1946 became direcgtor of public relations.

He retired from Rutgers in 1963, and returned to the University of Connecticut where he worked in public relations, athletics, audio visual services and other activities. He retired again in 1972, and died here January 9, 1989 at the age of 87.

 

Morgan, Virginia. President 2005-06, Auburn University

 

O)sborne, Marvin G. President 1920-21, Louisiana State University

Marvin Osborne was born in Winnsboro, Louisiana, March 4, 1885. He received a B.A. degree in 1906 and a master’s degree in 1924, both from LSU. During his undergraduate days at LSU, he served as campus correspondent to various newspapers and was a member of the editorial staffs of the student newspaper and the student annual.

Following graduation in 1906, he served as assistant registrar at LSU and continued to supply the press with news of university activities.

In 1913, when the university set up the Agricultural Extension Division, Osborne was asked “to organize and conduct this activity.” By 1948, the division had been expanded to include the entire university, and became the Bureau of Public Relations. He was also chairman of the Committee on University Publications.

In 1920, he became head of the Department of Journalism. This department later became the School of Journalism and Osborne served as head until his retirement.

In addition to AAACE, Osborne belonged to the American Association of Schools of Journalism and the Association for Education in Journalism. He was also active in Boy Scouts, the Kiwanis, the LSU Alumni Association and other organizations.

He died in Baton Rouge January 23, 1958.

 

Pierce, JoAnn Bell. President 1983-84, University of Florida

JoAnn Pierce was born November 26, 1925, and grew up in the ranching country south of San Antonio, Texas. She received a B.A degree in journalism and English at Baylor University and an M.A. degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Her land-grant university experience began in 1964 at the University of Illinois where she was media services coordinator in the Office of Agricultural Communications. She joined the Florida staff in 1974 as a news writer and extension publications editor. Because of an increased demand for publications in the late 1970’s, she was assigned exclusively to the publications section in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

 

Porter, Wilford Dowdle. President 1942-43, 1943-44, Utah Agricultural College

Wilford Porter was born April 23, 1900, in Franklin, Idaho and graduated from Utah State Agricultural College in 1922. Following graduation, he taught one year at Morgan High School and five years at South Cache High School in Hyrum, Utah.

In 1928, he became extension editor and secretary to the director of extension at the college. In 1934 he took a leave of absence to earn a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Wisconsin. Upon returning to Utah, he continued as extension editor, taught part-time and did publicity for the college. He was promoted to associate professor of journalism.

He was a member of Sigma Delta Chi, Pi Delta Epsilon, Epsilon Sigma Phi, Alpha Sigma Nu, and Phi Kappa Iota. He was also an elder in the Mormon church, and participated in Little Theater productions.

He died suddenly at his home October 5, 1944 at the age of 44.

 

Powell, Burt Eardley. Executive Secretary 1913-14, University of Illinois

B. E. Powell was the founder of the American Association of Agricultural College Editors. He was not the first president as originally thought, but was appointed executive secretary at he first AAACE meeting at the University of Illinois, July 10, 1913. He was responsible for the “matter of arranging a program for the following year” That meeting was held at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Powell was born in Strawberry Point in Fayette County, Iowa, December 14, 1868. He received a Ph.B. from Grinnell College (Iowa) in 1892, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1899.

Following graduation from Grinnell, he taught history at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon for three years. He later served as acting principal of Grinnell Academy (1899-1908), and taught history and civics at New Trier Township High School, Kenilworth, Illinois, from its opening in 1901 until 1908. From 1908 t0 1911, he was secretary to the president of the University of Illinois at an annual salary of $1,600. He thn became publications editor for the College of Agriculture, and in 1914, was made director of the information office.

He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas in 1918 to manage a rice ranch. What happened to him after 1918 is not known. However, a letter found in the ACE archives shows that Powell died December 28, 1945. The letter, from his wife Marian B. Powell to Andrew Hopkins, ACE president in 1933-34, was written from Los Angeles, California in 1951.

 

Price, Emmett R. President 1930-31, Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Emmett Price was born in Natural Bridge,Vorgomoa. December 2. 1874.  He attended Hampden-Sydney College from 1890 to 1894, and George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He edited a newspaper in Blacksburg, Virginia for five years and worked for another paper in Washington, D.C. for six years. In 1916, he became associate extension editor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute where he also taught agricultural journalism part0time.

He died August 1944, following a long illness. On Price’s death, Reuben Brigham said, “If my membership in AAACE had brought me only the knowledge and friendship of Emmett Price, I would still be in its debt.”

 

Quinn, Larry. President 1984-85, U. S. Department of Agriculture

Larry Quinn was born September 9, 1945 in Guymon. Oklahoma where he grew up on a wheat farm. He received a B.S. degree from Oklahoma Panhandle A&M College and an M.S. degree in education administration in 1973 from Texas A&M University.

His interest in communications began at age nine when he entered his first 4-H public speaking contest. By the time he was 17, he was staff announcer at KGYN in Guymon. He worked as a disc jockey-announcer while attending school.

His work experience includes being an Air Force civilian information specialist, and a field editor and radio-television specialist for Texas A&M. In 1974, he joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s television service and in 1980, was named chief of the Video and Film Division in USDA’s Office of Governmental and Public Affairs.

 

Read, Hadley. President 1961-62, University of Illinois

Hadley Read was born December 4, 1918 in Hamilton County, Iowa. He received a B.S. degree in 1939 in agricultural journalism and an M.S. degree in 1941 in agricultural economics and journalism both from Iowa State College.

Following graduation, he worked as an economics research analyst for Ralston Purina Co., in St. Louis. After two years, he returned to Iowa where he farmed and edited a weekly newspaper at Stanhope. In 1944, he joined Iowa State as assistant extension editor, and in 1947 he moved to the University of Illinois to become extension editor.

In the early 1960s he conceived the idea for a communications handbook for Illinois extension workers. The handbook was later adopted by AAACE as The Communicator’s Handbook. While serving as chairman of AAACE’s professional improvement committee, he initiated the National Project in Agricultural Communications (NPAC), one of the profession’s most valuable development programs.

In 1974 he received ACE’s highest honor for a member, the Professional ACE Award. Following retirement in 1974, as head of the Office of Agricultural Communications and as assistant extension director, he served in Indonesia and the Philippines.

He died December 8, 1981, four days short of his 63rd birthday.

 

Reck, Samuel H. Jr. President 1956-57, Rutgers University

Sam Reck was born April 21, 1902 in Rockford, Illinois. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural journalism in 1929 from Iowa State College and became extension editor at South Dakota State College where he served until 1934.

In 1936, he became assistant bulletin editor atg Iowa State and a year later was named extension editor. In 1942, he was appointed extension editor at Rutgers and served in that position until 1944 when he assumed additional duties as experiment station editor. He continued in those two roles until his retirement on December 20, 1965. He died December 20, 1975 at the age of 73.

 

Reeder, Ralph L. President 1959-60, Purdue University

Ralph Reeder was born August 1, 1910 in Trenton, Nebraska. He received an A.B. degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska in 1934.

He joined the Purdue University information staff at West Lafayette, in 1950 and at his retirement in 1975 was head of the department of agricultural information. Prior to Purde, he worked for the Nebraska Farmer and the Colorado Farmer and Rancher magazines. He was also alumni editor and agricultural edior for the University of Nebraska.

He was a life member of ACE, and in 1977 received ACE’s highest honor for a member, the Professional ACE award. He died in Solana Beach, California, March 1, 1986.

 

Richardson, Earl C. President 1949-50, Michigan State University

Earl Richardson was born January 31, 1908 in Coffeyville, Kansas. He received a B.S. degree in journalism in 1930 from Kansas State College and an M.S. degree in agriculture from Michigan State University in 1951.

He was a reporter for the Manhattan (Kansas) Mercury-Chronicle from 1928-31, city editor for the Garden City Telegram from 1931-36 and editor of the Garden City News from 1937-42. Following service in World War II, he became extension editor at Michigan State in 1946 and served there as agricultural editor until his death June 14, 1970 at the age of 62.

In addition to AAACE, he was a member of Sigma Delta Chi, the East Lansing Kiwanis Club and the East Lansing Planning Commission.

 

Riechert, Bonnie Parnell. President 1988-89, University of Tennessee

Bonnie Riechert was born in 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee. She is a magna cum laude graduate in journalism and social psychology of the University of Georgia.

She was appointed to the University of Tennessee staff in 1982, and became chairman of communications for the agricultural experiment station in 1985. Previous professional positions include agricultural science writer and news editor at the University of Georgia, 1978-82, state news editor, the Athens Daily News, Athens, Georgia, 1974-76. And mews editor at the Eufaula Tribune, Eufaula, Alabama, 1971-73.

In 1984, she received the ACE Pioneer Award. She has also received and ACE Research Award of Excellence. Other ACE service includes state representative, chairman of the research technical committee, program co-chair for the 1985 ACE Southern regional conference and program committee member for the 1983 national ACE meeting at the University of Wisconsin.

 

Rodekohr, Janet. President 1996-97, University of Georgia

 

 

Rogers, Charles Elkins. President 1926-27, Kansas Sate University

Charles Rogers was born May 5, 1892,  in Ozark, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1914 and went to work for the Tulsa World. A year later he became a feature writer for the Kansas City Star. In 1919, he went to Kansas State College, where he headed the journalism department from 1926 to 1939. While at Kansas State, he earned an M.S. degree in 1926 and in 1932, an M.S. degree from Stanford University.

In 1939, he became head of Technical Journalism at Iowa State College. He left Iowa in 1944 to work on his Ph.D. degree in political science at the University of Minnesota. In 1946, he joined the Food and Agriculture Organization. He went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1952 and retired from there in 1963. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1978 at the age of 86.

 

Round, George. President 1955-56, University of Nebraska

George Round was born in 1907 in Arcadia, Nebraska. He began his career as a student at the University of Nebraska writing stories part-time for the extension service. When he received his degree from the university in 1933, he was appointed extension editor.

When the university established a Department of Public Relations in 1945, he was its first director. In 1956, he helped establish a Department of Information in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics. He was the first chairman. He continued as chairman until 1963 and as extension editor until 1966 when his responsibilities as director of public relations demanded full-time attention.

In 1955, he received a U.S. Department of Agriculture Superior Service Award. In 1967, he received and outstanding service award from station KMMJ, Grand Island, (Nebraska) and was elected to the Hall of Fame of the Mid-American College Public Relations Association.

He retired from the university in 1973 after 40 years of service and died March 16, 1992 in Camarillo, California. He was 84 years old.

 

Rule, Glenn K. President 1935-36, University of Maine

Glenn Rule ws born January 20, 1893 in Mt. Gilead, Ohio. When he was two years old, the family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, because of the poor health of his mother. His mother died in 1899 and the family returned to the family farm in Mr. Gilead.

He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1917 with a degree in agriculture and worked as a county agent in Van Wert County, Ohio, until 1928 when he went to Cornell University to study journalism.

In 1929, he became extension editor at the University of Maine and served there until December 1935 when he transferred to Washington, D.C. to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s newly formed Soil Conservation Service (SCS).

When he retired from SCS in 1960, he was executive officer to the administrator. Following retirement, he conducted domestic tours for foreign groups interested in American agriculture. He died February 11, 1984 in Alexandria, Virginia, at the age of 91.

 

Rutledge, Glenn Cowan. President 1948-49, Mississippi State University

Glenn Rutledge was born in Pine Grove, Louisiana, August 28, 1906. He receive a B.A. degree in journalism from Louisiana State University in 1926. Following graduation, he spent 14 years on the Biloxi-Gulfport Daily Herald at Gulfport, Mississippi.

He spent more than five years in the army during World War II and was discharged with the rank of colonel.

After serving briefly as extension editor at Arkansas following the war, he was appointed experiment station editor at Mississippi in 1948. He served in that position until his retgirement in 1971.

After retirement, he continued working in communications, serving as secretary-treasurer of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists.

He died June 23, 1976 in Starkville, Mississippi. He was 69 years old.

 

Ryker, David E. President 1964-65, University of Arkansas

Dave Ryker was born September 20, 1908 in Howard County, Arkansas. When he was seven, his family moved to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where he graduated from high school in 1929. He attended Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State) for one semester but dropped out during the depression and enrolled in a business college in Oklahoma City in 1930.

He went to work for the Oklahoma Forestry Commission in 1931 and stated there until he entered the Navy in 1943 as a chief petty officer.

Following the war, he returned to Oklahoma State in 1946, graduating in 1949. He then went to work for the university as assistant extension editor. In October 1952, he joined gthe staff of the Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The foundation does agricultural and bio-medical research.

In February 1957, he returned to the university as extension editor and remained there until retiring June 30, 1976.

Following retirement, he served a short time in the Philippines for the Agency for International Development. Upon return from there he worked a few months for the Winrock International Foundation in Morrilton, Arkansas.

Also in retirement, he work full-time on his family genealogy, “Your Place in the Line—a Ryker Genealogy” was published and is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

He moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1985 to be closer to his son, and died there June 25, 1987 at the age of 78.

 

Sample, Glenn W. President 1944-45, University of Maryland

Glenn Sample was born July 7, 1912, in Centerville,, Indiana. His journalism career began with the Richmond, Indiana Palladium Item where he worked as a farm reporter during the summer. During the school year he attended Purdue University earning an agricultural economics degree in 1935.

Following graduation, he became an assistant county agent in Fort Wayne. A year later he joined the Purdue staff as assistant college editor, covering the entire university. In 1944, he joined gthe University of Maryland, and in 1945, returned to Indiana to become director of information for the Indiana Farm Bureau. He retired from the Farm Bureau in 1973 to become president of Indiana Vocational Technical College. He died in Columbus, Ohio in 1980.

In addition to ACE, he was a member of the Agricultural Relations Council, American Agricultural Editors Association, the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, Sigma Delta Chi and Alpha Gamma Rho.

 

Sams, Robert. President 2006-07, University of California, Davis

 

Sims, Almon J. President 1925-26, University of Tennessee

A.J. Sims was born on a farm in Wayne County, Tennessee, in 1892. He graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and worked for the Lawrence (Tennessee) Democrat and the Nashville Tennessean before becoming he first extension editor at the University in 1920.

In 1954, he went to the Philippines to set up an agricultural information system. After retiring from the university in 1960, Mr. and Mrs. Sims went to Tehran, Iran where he was agricultural information officer for the International Cooperation Administration.

He died at his Knoxville home February 16, 1978. He was 85.

 

Smith, J. Allan. President 1952-53, University of Kentucky

Allan Smith was a native of Hancock County, Illinois, where he was born in 1902. He received an A.B. degree in 1922 from Illinois Wesleyan University. While doing graduate work at the University of Illinois he worked as experiment station publications editor and received his Ph.D. degree in English language and literature in 1939.

He joined the University of Kentucky staff in 1941 as experiment station and extension service publications editor. In 1942, He became the first head of the Department of Public Information and Educational Aids and served in that position until 1967 when he retired. After retiring, he wrote a history of the College of Agriculture. He died in February 1983 at the age of 81.

 

Sperbeck, John M. President 1989-90, University of Minnesota

Jack Sperback was born April 13, 1940 in Vesper, Wisconsin and grew up on a dairy farm where he was active in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America.

He received a B.S. degree in dairy science in 1962 and an M.S. degree in agricultural journalism, both from the University of Wisconsin.

He served with the 101st Airborne Division in Kentucky and in Korea from 1962 to 1964. Following the military service, he became an extension 4-H agent in Wisconsin, serving until 1966. Following his master’s program in 1967, he joined the University of Minnesota’s department of information and agricultural journalism as an extension information specialist.

In addition to coordinating current information activities at Minnesota, he taught technical communication in the College of Agricultuer and conducted writing courses and seminars for various groups.

 

Springer, Don M. President 1986-87, Texas A & M University

Don Springer was born December 2, 1932 in Pratt County, Kansas. He received a B.X. degree in animal husbandry in 1957 and an M.S. degree in technical journalism in 1966, both from Kansas State University. In 1971, he received a Ph.D. degree in mass communications from The Ohio State University.

His professional experience included assistant agricultural editor, University of Missouri; extension television producer, Kansas State University at Wichita; director, Department of Public Information, University of Kentucky; and head, Department of Agricultural Communications, Texas A&M University. In April 1987, he became chairman of the editorial department at the University of Florida.

He retired in February 1992, and moved to College Station, Texas. He ws also a member of Phil Kappa Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta, Epsilon Sigma Phi, and the National Association of Farm Broadcasters.

 

Sumner, William A. President 1938-39, University of Wisconsin

William Sumner was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1892. He received a degree in technical journalism from Kansas State Agricultural College in 1914, and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin.

He joined the Wisconsin staff in 1915 as bulletin editor in the College of Agriculture where he developed a program of teaching and research in agricultural journalism.

In 1951, he went to France as an information consultant to the Economic Cooperation Administration and in 1954, conducted a summer information training course in the Caribbean for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.

He was an honorary member of the Wisconsin Press Association, and a founding member of the Dane County (Wisconsin) Press Association.

He died in January 1960 in Madison at the age of 67.

 

Swanson, Harold B. President 1953-54, University of Minnesota

Harold Swanson, a native of Maple Lake, Minnesota, was born March 2, 1917. He received a B.A. degree in journalism (magna cum laude) in 1939 and an M.S. degree in agricultural economics in 1949 both from the University of Minnesota. He also received a Ph.D. degree in extension administration in 1965 from the University of Wisconsin.

He joined the Minnesota staff in 1939 as a bulletin editor. Following more than three years in the army during World War II, he returned to the university in 1946 as news editor for the Department of Information and Agricultural Journalism. From 1948 to 1974, he was head of the Department of Agricultural Journalism and director of communications for the extension service. He walso worked as advertising manager of the Plainview (Minnesota) News and as a writer for an army newspaper.

He retired from extension service in 1980, but continued to teach part-time through 1984 when he retired completely. Since retiring, he has been executive secretary of the North
Central Chapter of National Agri-Marketing Association.

His honors include a Superior Service Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1963), Minnesota Adult Educator of the Year Award (1974), ACE Professional Award (1977), and the ACE Teaching and Training Award (1982).

 

Tait, Elton B. President 1960-61, Pennsylvania State University

Elton Tait was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania July 10, 1916. He received a B.S. degree in 1937 in animal husbandry from Pennsylvania State University and an M.S. degree in rural sociology in 1962 from Cornell University/.

He joined the Pennsylvania extension service in 1937 as an assistant county agent, serving until 1943, when he became extension radio editor. He later added television and worked in this area until 1960 when he was named assistant to the director for training. In 1963, he was promoted to assistant director for extension for the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania.

He was active with the Pennsylvania Farm Show Commission and served as its secretary for a number of hears. He is a member of Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Tau Alpha, Gamma Sigma Delta and Epsilon Sigma Phi. He has also been active in the Kiwanis Club and the Presbyterian Church. He retired July 1, 1976.

 

Voyles, Charles N. President, 1973-74, Oklahoma State University

Charles Voyles was born in Okemah, Oklahoma, April 27, 1928. He received a B.S. degree in 1952 and an M.S. degree in 1954, both in agricultural education and both from Oklahoma State University.

He started his career as an editorial assistant in the office of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station in 1953. In 1954, he was promoted to assistant publications editor and in 1961, was named agricultural publications editor. In 1967, he was named associate director of public information, extension editor and experiment station editor. In 1975, he was promoted to head of the Agricultural Information Department.

Voyles received the Pioneer ACE award in 1957, and served on a three-man task force to study the reorganization of AAACE in 1967. He is listed in “Who’s Who in the Souoth and Southwest.”

In addition to his professional activities, he has been active with little league soccer, baseball and his church.

He retired from the university January 1, 1988. In retirement, he has been active in Kiwanis International and his church. He has also worked as an inspector and sales representative for a roofing company.

 

Ward, William B. President 1954-55, Cornell University

William Ward was born July 16, 1917 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural journalism in 1940 from Utah State Agricultural College and an M.S. degree in 1941 in agricultural journalism and economics from the University of Wisconsin.

From 1941 to 1945, he was press chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Administration in Washington, D.C. He went to Cornell University in 1945 to organize what is now the Department of Communication Arts. He headed that department for 26 years, stepping down in 1972 to accept an assignment with the University of Tennessee-India at Bangalore.

Other foreign assignments included time in Guatemala, the Philippines, Taiwan, Nigeria, Honduras and Bangladesh.

Upon returning to Cornell he arranged for half-time retirement, teaching at the university during the fall semester, and working abroad during the spring semester.

In 1988, he was appointed professor emeritus, but continued to teach and engage in international activities.

He is listed in “Who’s Who in America,” and is a member of Sigma Delta Chi, the International Union of Agricultural Journalists, the American Agricultural Editors Association and the Rotary Club.

 

Whiting, Larry R. President 1990-91, The Ohio State University

Larry Whiting was born January 2, 1939 in Iowa City, Iowa. He grew up on a farm near Central City, Iowa, and was active in 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

He received a B.S. degree in agricultural journalism in 1962 from Iowa State University. While an undergraduate student, he received a national writing award from Sigma Delta Chi for work published in the student publication, Iowa Agriculturist.

Upon graduation, he became farm and state editor of the Daily Reporter and Sunday Times in Spencer, Iowa. In 1963 he became assistant editor for the Dakota Farmer magazine in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He remained with this magazine until 1970, serving as associated editor, director of public relations and editor.

He returned to Iowa state in 1970 where he served as assistant extension editor until 1972 when he was appointed editor for the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development and the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development.

While at Iowa State, he received an M.S. degree in journalism and mass communication and a Ph.D. degree in education in 1981. In June of 1981, he became chairperson of the Department of Information and Publications in the College of Agriculture at the University of Maryland.

In 1985, he moved to The Ohio State University to become professor of Agricultural Education and head of the Information and Applied Communication department.

 

Whittle, Charles A. President 1914-15, University of Georgia

Charles Whittle, the first president of AAACE, was born about 1879 in Sevier County, Tennessee. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1892 with a B.A. degree after pursuing a “Latin-scientific” curriculum.

He began work at the Georgia State College of Agriculture in 1912 as an editor-librarian, the first to hold that position at the College. He was hired to “give publicity and to disseminate information about the College of Agriculture.”

According to University of Georgia archives, he was probably the president’s PR man, writing a lot of articles under the president’s name that began appearing in newspapers through the state in 1912.

His starting salary was $600, but jumped to $2,000 per year in 1917. It is believed that he started a news service for the weekly press. While the records do not mention him by name, they say, “the employment of an editor has proven a step in the right direction. Letters received from individuals and from editors indicated that this is regarded as one of the most desirable and efficient types of extension service the college has undertaken.”

Whittle left Georgia in 1917. Where he went and what he did after that is unknown.

 

Winn, Judy. President 2004-05, Texas A&M University

 

Wood, Ashley M. President, 2001-02, University of Florida

 

Woodward, Carl R. President 1921-22, Rutgers University

Carl Woodward began his career as a teacher in a one-room rural New Jersey school and retired nearly 50 years later as president of the University of Rhode Island. He was born July 20, 1890 in Tennent, New Jersey, where he grew up on his father’s farm.

Following high school, he taught in a one-room rural school in Monmouth County, New Jersey, for two years. In 1910, he entered Rutgers University and received a B.S. degree in science and education in 1914. He then taught physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics at Madison High School for one year before becoming editor and librarian for the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and College of Agriculture.

In 1919, he received an M.A. degree from Rutgers, and for the next seven years taught English at the university. In 1926, he received a Ph.D. degree from Cornell University. In 1928, he was named assistant to the president at Rutgers, and was promoted to secretary in 1936. While at Rutgers, he edited reports, scientific bulletins, circulars, and news releases for the agricultural experiment station.

In 1941, he went to the University of Rhode Island to become its fifth president, serving until his retirement in 1958.

He belonged to 23 professional associations and other organizations and was a member of 17 honorary and fraternal societies and clubs, including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Zeta, the Masons and the University Clubs of Providence and Boston. During his career, he received 10 honorary degrees.

He was also active in church and community affairs. After retiring, he continued as an academic consultant for several years.

During his term as Rhode Island’s president, the school was granted university status, and 14 buildings were built or contracted for, with one named for Dr. Woodward.

He died October 2, 1974 at the age of 84.

 

Young, Holly. President 2002-03, University of New Hampshire

r of Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Delta Chi, the Masons, and the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He died in Topeka June 30, 1963 at the age of 75.

 

RETURN TO MEMORY LANE

ACE Home   About US      Memory Lane  Our History  Forum  International      Communication Management  Issue   News