ASA History

ASA's First President: Mark A. Carleton

“Today we are assembled in the first annual meeting since the organization of the American Society of Agronomy - the first association of the kind in America, and one that will have, without question, a tremendous influence on agricultural investigation and practice.” – Mark A. Carleton, first president of ASA (1907-1908)

• Mark A. Carleton Address - Read the 1st ASA Presidential Address (pdf)
• Mark A. Carleton (great-grandson) address at the Centennial Reception in New Orleans (pdf)

Highlights in History

• ASA Timeline: 2008-Forward
• ASA Timeline: 1907-2007
• Search All Past Scholarships, Awards, and Fellow- Filter by Award, Year, and/or Recipient

The Future of ASA & Agronomy

• New Orleans Meetings Mark the Beginning of Our Path into the Future, ASA President's Message, August 2007
• After 10,000 Years of Agriculture, Whither Agronomy? Agronomy Journal Centennial Paper

Highlights of 100 years of ASA

CSA News Centennial Article Series - Historical series of articles appearing in CSA News:

• Recalling the Birth of a Society
• The Early Years of ASA 1910-1921
• ASA in the 1920s and 1930s
• ASA during World War II
• ASA during the 1950s and 1960s
• Women and Fellowship in ASA
• ASA during the 1970s and 1980s
• Division History
• Winding Up the First Century

Annual Meeting Centennial: 2007

View the online recordings of several Centennial papers presented at the 2007 Annual Meetings, including:

• A Centennial History of the A-2 Military Land Use and Management Division
• 100 years of Educational Programs in ACS
• Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the University of California Citrus Experiment Station
• 100 Years Of Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Use In Kansas
• The Presidency of the American Society of Agronomy: Contributions from Kansas State University
• Marion Jacob Funchess, ASA President 1929
• George Nelson Coffey: ASA's Second President
• Contributions to Soil Science by Merritt F. Miller

Centennial Supplement

This supplement to Agronomy Journal is part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the journal. As you read these diverse and informative articles, reflect on the profession of agronomy. These historical articles include:

• A Century of Women in Agronomy: Lessons from Diverse Life Stories
• William J. Beal - Pioneer Applied Botanical Scientist and Research Society Builder
• Beachell and Borlaug, Two Giants of the American Society of Agronomy’s First Century
• The Magruder Plots: Untangling the Puzzle (this review paper presents one of the oldest long-term continuous winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L experiments, known as the Magruder Plots
• Agronomy Journal Turns One Hundred
• History, Achievements, and Current Status of Genetic Resources Conservation

Long-Term Field Experiments Around the World

For the 2007 ASA Centennial, the Agronomy Journal Editorial Board assembled pictures from 12 of the oldest long-term experiments in the world for a celebratory calendar that was distributed to the entire membership, and included location, findings, annual rainfall, elevation, and contact personnel:
Long Term Field Experiments Around the World

Centennial Celebrations

Congress Recognizes ASA 100th Anniversary
In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the American Society of Agronomy, both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have developed legislation honoring this historic event. View legislation: House | Senate

CSA News February Issue: Annual Meetings in Review
View the Centennial Celebrations covered in the February issue of CSA News (login required) for photos and articles about the 2007 Annual Meetings, including highlights of the Centennial Celebrations.