Sesquicentennial celebration

History of Iowa State: People of Distinction

History of Iowa State History of Iowa State home Time Lines Cyclone Facts and Trivia Campus Buildings Student Life Alumni People of Distinction Oral Histories Sesquicentennial Celebration home Sponsored by the University Archives, Iowa State University Library Copyright 2006	Raymond A. Pearson Raymond A. Pearson was a Cornell University graduate in dairy industry, did government and commercial dairy laboratory work, and in 1903 returned to Cornell to organize a department of dairy industry. He headed the New York Department of Agriculture for four years prior to his appointment as president of Iowa State College (University) (1912-1926). Pearson completed the divisional organization of undergraduate programs; strongly promoted the graduate program, which was given divisional status in 1915; broadened extension service; and gave wholehearted support to "big-time" goals in athletics. While at Iowa State College (University) he served as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture during the war emergency period of 1917-18. Campus construction during his administration surpassed that of any other era prior to the post-World War II boom; 14 academic buildings in service during the 1970s were constructed during Pearson's term. He resigned to become president of the University of Maryland (1926-1935).	Resources available online Raymond A. Pearson Papers RS 2/7 University Archives, Iowa State University Library