Harlow L. Walster was born on April 20, 1883, on a dairy farm near Madison, Wisconsin. He received his bachelor's from the University of Wisconsin in 1908, his master's from Harvard in 1913, and his PhD. from the University of Chicago in 1918. He was an instructor and an Assistant Professor of Soils at the University of Wisconsin from 1908-1919. He joined the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in 1919 as an Agronomist. In 1924 he was appointed Dean of the School of Agriculture, which he held until his retirement in 1953. He was the Director of Extension from 1934-1937 and Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station from 934-1937, 1939.
He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Society of Agronomy, American Society of Soil Science, and the American Soil Survey Association. He was also a life member and vice president of the Agricultural History Society of the United States , a member of the Northern Great Plains Agricultural Council, and chairman and secretary of the agricultural teaching section of the Association of Land Grant Colleges.
Between May and August 1941, Dean Walster was granted a leave of absence for an extensive tour of South America as a guest of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. During the tour he published a series of letters and articles on South America relating to agriculture and other topics. In 1947 he toured Central America as the guest of the United States Fruit Company, during which he visited the Pan-American School of Agriculture in Honduras.
Dr. Walster retired in July 1953, and received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from NDSU. He died in his home in Fargo, in October of 1957.
He was married in 1921 to Ada Georgene Meadows of Ipswich, South Dakota. They had one child.
In 1959, the State Legislature appropriate $750,000 for a new agricultural science building. Construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1961. The building opened in 1961 and was dedicated as Walster Hall in 1962 in honor of H. L. Walster, Dean of the School of Agriculture from 1924 to 1953 (Dedication of Walster Hall, July 13, 1962). |
