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ELMER GEORGE PETERSON.

    Elmer George Peterson is a man who speaks with recognized authority
 upon problems
vital to the farmer and he is now filling the important position of
 president of the
Agricultural College of Utah at Logan. He was born at Plain City, Utah,
 August 26, 1882,
a son of Augustus and Agnes (Geddes) Peterson. The father, a native of
 Denmark, came to
Utah as one of the pioneer emigrants in the early period of the
 colonization of the
state. He devoted his life to farming here for many years but is now
 residing in Preston,
Idaho. The mother was born in Plain City, Utah, a daughter of William
 Geddes, one of the
pioneer residents of the state, and she, too, is still living.

    Elmer G. Peterson was educated in public schools of Idaho, Oregon
 and Utah and was
graduated from the Agricultural College of Utah with the class of 1904.
 He afterward
received a fellowship at the University of Chicago and the following
 year he accepted a
position as assistant professor in Cornell University at Ithaca, New
 York. He later
transferred his labors to the far northwest, becoming professor of
 bacteriology In the
Oregon State Agricultural College in 1910. In 1912 he came to Logan as
 director of the
extension division and in 1916 was elected to the presidency of the
 Agricultural College
of Utah, in which position he has since remained, being therefore at
 the head of an
institution which has exerted an immeasurable influence for good upon
 the agricultural
development of this region. He has written much upon questions of
 keenest interest to the
farmer and he has contributed many special articles to magazines,
 newspapers, bulletins
and circulars-articles which have been widely read and in large measure
 adopted to the
benefit of all who have followed his ideas.

    On the 3d of September, 1913, Mr. Peterson was married to Miss
 Phoebe Nebeker, a
daughter of Hyrum Nebeker, of Logan, mentioned elsewhere in this work.
 They now have one
daughter, Marion, three years of age.

    Mr. Peterson votes with the Republican party but has never been
 active in politics as
an office seeker. He enjoys outdoor life and especially fishing, but
 his. duties as
president of the Agricultural College of Utah are very exacting, as he
 is at the head of
an institution numbering over twenty-five hundred students. From early
 life he has given
close study to the scientific phases of agriculture and to experimental
 and research work
and his comprehensive knowledge enables him to speak with authority
 upon many questions
which have to do with the welfare, progress and prosperity of Utah's
 farming population.

Extracted from:

UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME IV
CHICAGO-SALT LAKE: THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1920