Artist: Robert Wadsworth Grafton (1876–1936)
George Irving Christie
CHRISTIE, GEORGE IRVING (1881–1953), inducted 1928
George I. Christie divided his career between Canada, his country of birth, and the United States. Born in Winchester, Ontario, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Ontario Agricultural College in 1901. In 1903, he completed post-graduate work at Iowa State College and then worked there for two years as an agronomy assistant. Christie moved to Purdue in 1905 and rose to the position of Director of Extension. As Indiana State Food Director, he investigated the discovery of the European corn borer in the US in 1917, and then during World War I, he spent time in Washington, DC, first as assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture and then as deputy secretary of the Cabinet. He returned to Purdue in 1920, to direct the Agricultural Experiment Station. President Coolidge considered him for the post of Secretary of Agriculture in 1925, the same year he received an honorary doctorate from Iowa State. George Christie crossed the border once again in 1928 to accept the post of President of Ontario Agricultural College, where he served until 1947.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 64