Charles Christian Georgeson (; June 26, 1851 – 1931) was a Danish-American

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

Biography

Georgeson was born in

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1873 to attend college, graduating from

Michigan State College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

in 1878. He received his master's degree in 1882 and a doctorate in 1916, both from Michigan State. From the beginning of 1886 to near the close of 1889, he was Professor of Agriculture at

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan, in the College of Agriculture and Dendrology. On his return to the United States, he was appointed Professor of Agriculture and superintendent of the farm at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. In 1898, Georgeson was appointed Special Agent in Charge of the US agricultural experiment stations and sent to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. He remained in Alaska, developing the region's agriculture, until retiring in 1927. Georgeson died in 1931 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. He was well respected as a plant breeder and

and developed the

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

hybrid

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

. The Georgeson Botanical Garden is named in his honor. Georgeson was also associate editor of the ''

Rural New Yorker ''Rural New Yorker'' was a weekly periodical founded in 1850 that was published by the Rural Publishing Co., New York City. The magazine continued through the middle of the 20th century. History Daniel D.T. Moore founded the publication as ''Moo ...

'' from 1878 to 1880.

References

Charles Christian Georgeson--a man with a vision
Janice T. Hanscom. ''Agroborealis'', Spring 1998, 30(1):25.

Ned Rozell. ''Alaska Science Forum'', article #1400, August 5, 1998

December 24, 2008.

External links

* 1851 births American agronomists Kansas State University faculty Academic staff of the University of Tokyo 1931 deaths {{Denmark-bio-stub