Biographical Sketches of Leaders of Plant and Soil Sciences (Agronomy) [1906 - Present] at Oklahoma State University (OAMC)

Source materials for these profiles are "Agriculture" by Donald E. Green, published Oklahoma State University Centennial Histories Series, 1990 and "Oklahoma State University Since 1890" by Philip R. Rulon, published 1975.

LEWELLYN A. MOORHOUSE (B.S.A., M.S.)
1906-1910

Moorhouse was a Canadian who received his B.S.A. degree from Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. Burtis hired him as an assistant in soils and crops in August 1902. Before he left Canada, Burtis advised him to visit several Agricultural Colleges in the eastern states to obtain ideas for equipping a soils lab and establishing a farm museum. Moorhouse was an exceptional agronomist, but he also taught the first agricultural economics class in 1903. He was the faculty sponsor for the Agricultural Club which was reorganized in January, 1904. (Amos E. Lovett, first Agronomy B.S. graduate in 1904, was president of the Agricultural Club.) Moorhouse was on leave in 1905 to obtain a M.S. degree from the University of Illinois. He was "elected" Professor of Agronomy in March, 1906.

The Agronomy Department was formed on August 1, 1906 and Moorhouse assumed the leadership. English and Moorhouse surveyed sites for a substation to conduct cooperative USDA Dry Land Agriculture research. A temporary location was chosen near Woodward in 1907, but was changed to a federal reserve at Fort Supply in 1908. Moorhouse was "fired" by the Board of Agriculture in May 1910. President Connell was a "tool" of the Board which resulted in a political purge. The primary charge against 18 faculty members including Moorhouse was "disloyalty". Then, he became an Agriculturalist - Office of Farm Management, USDA for 9 years. Later he was Professor of Economics and Sociology at Colorado College of Agriculture (Colorado State).

O. O. CHURCHILL (B.S.)
1911-1914

Churchill was appointed as a Professor of Agronomy in 1911. The farm management course introduced in Agronomy in 1911 was probably taught by Hartenbower or Churchill. In 1913, Churchill became Dean of Agriculture as well as Professor of Agronomy. A. H. Wright and Churchill published the first comparative experiments with grain sorghums in 1914. Their research covered the five year period from 1909-1913. Churchill was terminated by the Board of Regents in 1914. He became Head of the Department of Agronomy in North Dakota.

DR. MALCOM A. BEESON (B.S., D.Sc. [Hon.])
1915-1921

Dr. Beeson was born in 1879 on an Alabama farm. He received a B.S. degree from Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn) in 1900 and did graduate work at Johns Hopkins University. Then, he helped his brother operate East Mississippi Female College. Beeson founded and became president and director of Agriculture at Meridian (Miss.) Male College where he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1910. (Later, he received an honorary doctorate from Oklahoma City University.)

After serving at Meridian for 10 years Beeson was appointed Professor of Agronomy and Department Head (the first official "head") at OAMC in January of 1915. He helped organize the Oklahoma Seed Grower's Association (Oklahoma Crop Improvement Association in 1922) in January of 1916. He and Daane developed an early maturing dwarf grain sorghum in 1919 and name it "Darso". Beeson was elevated to Dean of Agriculture in 1921 and to Dean and Director of Agricultural Experiment Station in 1923. Under the leadership of Dowell and Beeson, graduate work leading to an M.S. degree was introduced to all departments in agriculture in 1921.

In 1923, Beeson left OAMC. From 1931-1935 he was President of Central State College (now University of Central Oklahoma). Then, he was field director of George Peabody Teachers College (Tenn.). Later, Beeson engaged in various business enterprises (automobiles, real estate, oil and insurance) in Stillwater before retiring in 1969. He died in 1971 at the age of 92. (Beeson was designated as professor of the department, a term at that time which not only stipulated one's rank, but also denoted head of the department as well.)

ADRIAN DAANE (Ph.B. [Bachelor of Philosophy], M.S.)
1923-1928

Daane received both of his degrees from the University of Wisconsin in 1913 and 1914. Before coming to OAMC he was principal of a high school in Wisconsin. He was appointed as an instructor (assistant in soils) and later Assistant Professor (Assistant Agronomist) in 1914. He was promoted to Associate Professor (Associate Agronomist) in 1922. Daane was elevated to Professor (Agronomist) and Head of Agronomy Department in 1923.

During World War I, many of the faculty were asked to teach other courses, but Daane was not pulled away from his research. He and Beeson developed an early maturing dwarf grain sorghum in 1919 and named it "Darso". In 1922, he was one of 13 charter members of the Klod and Kernel Klub (Tri-K) which was changed to Agronomy Club in 1934. Daane was "fired" as part of a political purge against President Knapp. He then was involved in pasture research at the Everglades Experiment Station in Florida.

Daane died in 1936 at the age of 55.

DR. N. ELMER WINTERS (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.)
1929-1933

Dr. Winters was a native Kansan who made the Run with his parents in 1889. As a teenager, he taught country school northwest of Cashion. He graduated from OAMC with a B.S. degree in Agronomy in 1911. (Dr. Winters rode his horse from his home in Cashion to Stillwater - personal communication.) After college, he organized the Agriculture Dept. at Southeastern Normal (now Southeastern State) in Durant. He then became superintendent of a Texas substation for six years.

Dr. Winters earned an M.S. degree in 1918 from Texas A&M and took a position as Soils Extension Specialist at North Carolina State.

Later, he was awarded a Ph.D. degree from Cornell University in 1923. After graduation, he was Director of the Research Laboratory (boll weevil research) at Pee Dee Experiment Station in South Carolina. Next, he organized research and extension in Argentina and other South American countries.

In 1929, Winters was appointed as Head Of Agronomy Department and Assistant Director of the Agricultural Experiment station at OAMC. He established a soil testing laboratory in 1929 and inaugurated an Agronomy Field Day in 1931. Dr. Winters instituted the county soil survey in 1929 and was responsible for a quick survey of soil erosion in 48 counties using "crop meters" attached to car odometers. In 1932, he was appointed to a regional soil erosion board and selected a team to survey badly eroded Stillwater Creek which led to the designation of Lake Carl Blackwell as a multi-use area.

After a leave of absence from OAMC, Dr. Winters became a regional director of the Soil Erosion Service (now NRCS) in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. After military service, he joined the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service in South America and Indonesia in 1945.

Dr. Winters retired from government service in 1954 and died in 1977 at the age of 93.

		DR. H.F. "PAT" MURPHY (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) 1940-1955 Dr. Murphy was a native Iowan who moved to Glencoe, Oklahoma with his family as a child. After preparatory school at OAMC during 1913, he enrolled in college classes in 1914 and received his B.S. degree in agronomy in 1918. He taught agriculture and chemistry at Kemper Military Academy in Missouri for two years. He returned to OAMC as an instructor in 1920. Dr. Murphy was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1921 and was elevated to Associate Professor in 1923, the year he was awarded a M.S. degree. He was Acting Head of the department in 1928-1929 and 1933-1937. After he earned a Ph.D. in soil science at the University of California in 1938, he was named full Professor. In 1940, Murphy became Professor and Head of the Department. The story is told that Dr. Harper, who was Acting Head at the time, "barricaded" himself in the office for a few days and refused to relinquish the position to Murphy! Dr. Murphy wrote numerous journal articles and papers in soil fertility and soil chemistry. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1962. Dr. Murphy served as soil scientist and teacher with Imperial Ethiopian College of Agriculture during 1955-1958 and 1962-1965. In 1965, he was presented one of the first "Chancellor's Medals" by Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie I for the collection and analysis of 2,500 soil samples plus the publication of the first book on the soils of Ethiopia. He died in 1967 at the age of 69 from injuries suffered in a car accident.

		DR. MARLOWE D. THORNE (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) 1956-1963 Dr. Thorne is a native of Utah and earned a B.S. degree from Utah State in 1940 and an M.S. degree from Iowa State in 1941. After two years in the Army Air Corps, he was awarded a Ph.D. degree from Cornell University in 1948. Dr. Thorne was soil physicist, Head of the Soils Department and later the Agronomy Department at the Pineapple Research Institute in Hawaii from 1947-1955. He worked as a USDA soil scientist in irrigation at Beltsville, Maryland prior to his appointment as Professor and Head of the Agronomy Department at OAMC in 1956. After seven years, he resigned to accept the position of Head of the Department of Agronomy at the University of Illinois. He became a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1963. Thorne "stepped down" as department head at Illinois in 1970. He then had foreign assignments in Israel and India plus the position of soil physics extension at the University of Illinois until he retired in 1984. He currently resides in Savoy, Illinois.

		DR. FRANK P. GARDNER (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) 1963-1968 Dr. Gardner was born in Virginia. He attended Berea College (Kentucky) in 1941-42 and then spent three years in the U.S. Army. He received a B.S. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1949. Gardner earned a M.S. degree in 1950 and a Ph.D. degree in 1952, both from Iowa State. After assignments of pasture research and teaching at University of Georgia and Ohio State, he returned to Iowa State. There, he was in teaching and crop physiology research for seven years. In 1963, he was appointed as Professor and Head of the Agronomy Department at OSU. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1966. Gardner was "cleared" of 13 allegations of maladministration in an investigation by OSU administrators in April of 1966. He resigned under pressure in 1968 to accept the post of Dean of Applied Sciences at Western Illinois University. He later became crop ecologist in teaching and research at the University of Florida in 1980. Gardner retired in 1990 and moved to California. He died in 1992 at the age of 68.

		DR. RALPH S. MATLOCK (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) 1968-1976 Dr. Matlock was a native Oklahoman who grew up on a farm in Cleveland County. He served four years in the U.S. Army and lost a leg in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. He received both B.S. and M.S. degrees from Oklahoma State University in 1948 and 1949 respectively. He was awarded the Ph.D. degree from University of Nebraska in 1952. Matlock was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Agronomy at Oklahoma State University in 1952 and worked up through the ranks to Professor in 1957. He was named as Head of Department of Agronomy in 1968. He was active in teaching several crops courses and did research in plant breeding and production of peanuts, soybeans, mungbeans, and other new and special crops. He was the first winner of an Alpha Zeta scholarship. Matlock was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1969 and was a co-winner of the Golden Peanut Award in 1967. Dr. Matlock died in 1977 of cancer at the age of 55.

		Dr. PAUL W. SANTELMANN (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) 1977-1987 Dr. Santelmann was born in Michigan, and grew up in Virginia. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he received a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland in 1950. He was awarded an M.S. degree from Michigan State in 1952 and earned a Ph.D. degree at Ohio State in 1954. He became Assistant Professor at University of Maryland in 1954 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1961. Santelmann was appointed Associate Professor at Oklahoma State University in 1962 and was elevated to full Professor in 1966. He was appointed as Regents Professor of Agronomy in 1974 (the first in the department). Santelmann was elected as a Fellow of the Weed Science Society of America in 1974 and a Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy in 1979. He accepted the position of Professor and Head of the Agronomy Department in 1977. He asked to be relieved of his department head responsibilities in 1987. He returned to teaching and research as Regents Service Professor concentrating on the fate of herbicides in the soil. Santelmann retired in 1991 and lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

DR. CHARLES J. SCIFRES (B.S., M.S, Ph.D)
1987-1990

Dr. Scifres is a native Oklahoman who was reared near Duncan. He received an associate degree from Murray State in 1961, a B.S. degree and M.S. degree from Oklahoma State in 1963 and 1965 respectively. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree from University of Nebraska in 1969. For three years (1965-1968) Scifres was an Assistant Research Agronomist, ARS, and Instructor at the University of Nebraska. In 1968 he was appointed as Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University Research and Extension Center at Lubbock.

The next year he transferred to Range Science Department of Texas A&M University at College Station and rose through the ranks to become full professor in 1976. Scifres was appointed as the first recipient of the Thomas M. O'Connor Endowed Professorship of Range Science in 1982.

He was selected as Professor and Head of the Agronomy Department at Oklahoma State University in September of 1987. He was elected as a Fellow of the Weed Science Society of America in 1990. On July 1, of that year Scifres relinquished the position of Department Head to assume duties of Associate Director, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station. In April of 1994 he accepted a position as Dean of Agriculture and Home Economics and Associate Vice-President at the University of Arkansas. In 2001, he became Deputy Director, TAES and Associate Vice-Chancellor of Texas A. & M. University.

Dr. Scifres passed away in his home July 28, 2003.

DR. ROBERT L. WESTERMAN (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.)
1991-2001

Dr. Westerman is a native of southwestern Oklahoma. He received a B.S. degree in agricultural education from OSU in 1961 and awarded an M.S. degree in agronomy/soils from OSU in 1963. From 1963-1966, he was a captain-platoon leader in a helicopter unit. He was a Ph.D. recipient in soil science from the University of Illinois in 1969.

He became an Assistant Professor and Assistant Soil Scientist at the University of Arizona in 1969, and advanced to Associate level in 1974. He came to OSU as Associate Professor of Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition in 1976, and was promoted to full Professor in 1983. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America in 1986. He was named Regents Professor of Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition in 1988. Dr. Westerman was elevated to Head of Agronomy Department in 1991. He also received the Agronomic Achievement Award-Soils from the American Society of Agronomy in 1991. In 2001, Westerman resigned as Department Head and accepted a position as Assistant Director of Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station.

DR. JAMES H. STIEGLER (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.)
2002-2007

Dr. Stiegler is a native of south central Texas. He received his B.S. degree in agriculture from Texas A&I in 1964, an M.S. degree in soil science from OSU in 1967, and a Ph.D. degree in soil science from Virginia Tech in 1971. From 1971-1973, he was an Assistant Professor and Land Use Specialist at KSU. In 1973, he came to OSU as Assistant Professor and Soil Management Specialist, and advanced to Associate rank in 1977 and to Professor in 1983.

In 1986 when he was on a 1-yr sabbatical, he served as the Extension Liaison with USDA in Washington, D.C. He was elected a Fellow of the Soil and Water Conservation Society in 1991. In 2002, he received the Southern Region Conservation Tillage Service Award and was also named Progressive Farmer “Man of the Year in Service in Oklahoma Agriculture” for his many years of educational programs in conservation tillage. He is also known across the U.S. as “Mr. Land Judging” because of his leadership with the National 4-H and FFA Land Judging Contest that is held each year in Oklahoma. Dr. Stiegler served two, one-year terms as Interim Department Head in 1990 and 2001 and became the Head of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in 2002.

DR. DAVID R. PORTER (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.)
2007-present

Dr. Porter is a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma. After serving four years in the United States Marine Corps (1973-1977), he started his college education at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. After two years at UPLB, he transferred to OSU and received a B.S. degree in agronomy in 1981, and an M.S. degree in agronomy in 1983. He then worked as a Rice Agronomist for Ring Around Products in south Texas prior to attending Texas Tech University, where he received a Ph.D. in agronomy in 1990.

From 1990-2000, he was a Research Geneticist with the USDA-ARS in Stillwater, Oklahoma. During his time with USDA-ARS, Porter also served as Adjunct Assistant Professor with the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at OSU (1990), Adjunct Associate Professor (1994), and Adjunct Professor (2002). From 2000-2007, he served as Supervisory Research Geneticist and Research Leader for the Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2007, Porter resigned from USDA-ARS to become the head of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.