He was born on February 23, 1889. He graduated from Syracuse University and studied agriculture in the Cornell Summer School of 1911. He then taught school and later became a professor of
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
in the
Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University (CALS or Ag School) is a statutory college and one of the four New York State contract colleges on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. With enrollmen ...
. While he was a professor, the Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange, a failing farmer's cooperative, requested Babcock's help. Under his management, the cooperative became the largest farmer's cooperative in the world.Bishop, Morris, A History of Cornell (Cornell University Press) p. 525 Upon becoming the president of the New York State Grange, Babcock became an ex officio Cornell Trustee in 1930. He served as chairman of the board from 1940 to 1947. He died on July 12, 1950.
Legacy
He was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame in 1976.