Artist: Othmar J. Hoffler (1893–1954)
John Arthur Hill
HILL, JOHN ARTHUR (1880–1951), inducted 1949
John A. Hill’s Saddle & Sirloin citation reads, “a noted authority on wool, he was considered one of the most influential men in the industry.” Hill was born on a small farm near Carrollton, Ohio. In 1901, he worked on his uncle’s ranch near Cody, Wyoming, enrolling in the University of Wyoming the following year. Upon graduation, he was named the school’s special wool technologist and head of the new wool department. His tenure at the university was interrupted for service as an infantry captain during the Great War. Hill was named dean of the college and director of the agricultural experiment stations in 1923. His pioneering work on the strength, measurement, and scouring of wool helped expand range sheep production in the West. In 1932, Dean Hill served as president of the American Society of Animal Production and was their Outstanding Livestock Man in 1949, the year he was inducted into the Saddle & Sirloin Club. Voted Wyoming’s Outstanding Citizen in 1942, he was given an honorary L.L.D. (Doctor of Laws) degree by the University of Wyoming in 1947. Dean Hill retired in 1950, after forty-four years at the school.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 109