The Development of U.S. Agricultural Research and Education: An Economic Perspective
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The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 to teach economic theory as a truth of industrial life, and was very much concerned with applying economics to business and industry, particularly agriculture. Between 1910 and 1967 it showed the growing influence of other social studies, such as sociology, history, and political science. Today it encompasses the majors of Agricultural Business (preparing for agricultural finance and management), Business Economics, and Economics (for advanced studies in business or economics or for careers in financing, management, insurance, etc).
History
The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 under the Division of Industrial Science (later College of Liberal Arts and Sciences); it became co-directed by the Division of Agriculture in 1919. In 1910 it became the Department of Economics and Political Science. In 1913 it became the Department of Applied Economics and Social Science; in 1924 it became the Department of Economics, History, and Sociology; in 1931 it became the Department of Economics and Sociology. In 1967 it became the Department of Economics, and in 2007 it became co-directed by the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business.
Dates of Existence
1898–present
Historical Names
- Department of Economic Science (1898–1910)
- Department of Economics and Political Science (1910-1913)
- Department of Applied Economics and Social Science (1913–1924)
- Department of Economics, History and Sociology (1924–1931)
- Department of Economics and Sociology (1931–1967)
Related Units
- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
- College of Business (parent college)
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Abstract
This Centennial year of the Hatch Act, which established state agricultural experiment stations in the United States, provides an opportunity to reflect on the beginning, development, growth, and impacts ,of agricultural research and education in the United States. Public sector agricultural research started in the United States in the mid-19th century. Private sector inventive activity started even earlier. Major landmarks in public sector institutions for agricultural research were the establishment of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1862, the Morrill Act of 1862 giving federal land-grants to each state for the support of a college to teach agri culture and mechanical arts, and the Hatch Act of 1887 giving federal support to state agricultural experiment stations. Public agricultural extension activities started about the turn of the century, and the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 established the Cooperative Extension Service. •This book is organized into five parts and 14 chapters.