Perry Greeley Holden

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Perry Greeley Holden (October 13, 1865 – October 8, 1959) was the first professor of agronomy in the United States.

P. G. Holden was born in Dodge Center, Minnesota and studied at the Michigan State University, where he was awarded an M.S. in 1895. Subsequently, he went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 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 use of hybrid corn seeds. In 1902, he joined the Iowa State University, first as vice dean of agriculture and then, as of 1906, as head of the ISU Extension Service. Through his various outreach programs to promote the use of hybrid corn seeds he soon became known as the "corn evangelist". In 1912, he ran for governor of Iowa in the Republican primary; after his defeat, he moved to Michigan again where he became director of International Harvester's Agricultural Extension department. He retired in 1932.

Holden married on November 11, 1892 Carrie Amalia Burnett (b. April 7, 1864). They had four children; one of them died as an infant.