Perry Greeley Holden (October 13, 1865 – October 8, 1959) was the first

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of agronomy in the

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Biography

Holden was born in

Dodge Center, Minnesota Dodge Center is a city in Dodge County, Minnesota, United States. Approximately 15 miles west of Rochester, the population of Dodge Center was 2,670 at the 2010 census. Dodge Center is part of the Rochester, MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, to Dennison Franklin Holden and Mary Helen Wilson. He graduated from

Michigan Agricultural 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 1889 and taught at M. A. C. from 1889 to 1893. On November 11, 1892, he married Carrie Amalia Burnett (b. April 7, 1864). They had four children; one of them died as an infant. He studied at the Michigan State University where he was awarded an M.S. in 1895.

Career

Subsequently, Holden went to the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, where he became assistant professor for soil physics and the first professor of agronomy of the U.S. from 1896 until 1900. For the next two years, he served as a manager at the Funk Brothers Seed Company, promoting the improvement, selection and better management of corn seeds. In 1902, Holden joined the

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

, first as vice

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of agriculture and then, as of 1906, as head of the ISU Extension Service. Through his various outreach programs to promote the better selection and management of corn seeds he soon became known as the "corn evangelist". In 1912, he ran for governor of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

in the

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primary. After his defeat, Holden moved to

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

again where he became director of

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's Agricultural Extension department. He was especially interested in the boll weevil infestation in the South and in encouraging farmers to diversify to try to prevent such disasters. He retired in 1932 and helped his wife with her egg business on their Michigan farm.

Death

Holden died on October 8, 1959. Personal and business papers were donated to the Michigan State College Library and are held in the Michigan State University's Archives and Historical Collections Department.

References

External links

History
of the Iowa State University Extension Service.

of a show on P. G. Holden.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Perry Greeley 1865 births 1959 deaths People from Dodge Center, Minnesota Michigan State University alumni Iowa State University faculty American agronomists