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William
Isaac Chamberlain was born in
Sharon
,
Connecticut
in 1837. Shortly
after his birth, his family moved to
Ohio
where he attended
Western Reserve
College
(
Case
Western Reserve
University
) and upon graduation (1859) was appointed instructor in Greek.
After six years, Dr. Chamberlain returned to his
family’s farm and proceeded to study and conduct agricultural
experiments related to farm fertilizers, drainage, and crop
rotation. He
published his studies in agricultural journals and became widely
known for his investigations of agricultural issues.
Dr. Chamberlain was elected State Secretary of
Agriculture of Ohio (1880-1886) and was instrumental in setting
up Farmers’ Institutes in every county of the state.
Dr.
Chamberlain’s reputation was well-known when he became the
fourth President (1886-1890) of Iowa State College (
Iowa
State
University
). However, Dr.
Chamberlain’s presidency was a turbulent one.
He regularly defended the college’s curriculum which
was often criticized by local citizens for not focusing enough
on agriculture. On
campus, many students opposed fraternities due to their
secretive and exclusionary nature.
Thus, his backing of student fraternities would
eventually cost him the support of most of the students.
He never did gain the favor of the faculty.
Dr. Chamberlain resigned in 1890 and moved back to his
Ohio
farm where he continued to conduct agricultural experiments as
well as write and lecture on agricultural issues.
He served on the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State
University and the Ohio Experiment Station and became Associate
Editor of the Ohio Farmer and the National Stockman
and Farmer.
William
Chamberlain married Lucy Jones Marshall on
July 16, 1863
and they had six children. Dr.
Chamberlain died on
June 30, 1920
, in
Cleveland
,
Ohio
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