Dr. J. Boyd Page

Dr. J. Boyd Page

Scientist, Professor, and Vice President at Iowa State University

PHS Class of 1932

J. Boyd Page had a distinguished career as a scientist and educator. He graduated from Payson High School in 1932, then from Brigham Young University in 1936, where he met his wife, Helen Young Page. Subsequently, he earned a master's degree at the University of Missouri, and in 1940 he received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University.

He was an instructor in soil chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was among the first to use the electron microscope in soils research. In 1943 he joined the Agronomy Department of Ohio State University as Assistant Professor, and in 1950 he was appointed Professor of Agronomy at Texas A&M University. There he became Department Chairman and later Graduate Dean, before joining Iowa State University in 1960, where he held the joint positions of Vice President for Research and Graduate Dean. He remained in these positions for 10 years and then moved to Washington, D.C., where he was President of the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States. He held this position until his retirement in 1979.

In 1954, he received the Stevenson Award from the American Society of Agronomy for his research in the physics of soils. He was a fellow of that Society and of the American Association for Advancement of Science. He received distinguished alumni awards from Ohio State University and Brigham Young University. In his research, teaching and administration, he touched and influenced the lives of many students and colleagues.

Inducted 1981

Accomplishments:

  • PHS class of 1932

  • Bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University

  • Master's degree from the University of Missouri

  • Ph.D. from Ohio State University

  • Instructor at University of California, Berkeley, teaching soil chemistry

  • Assistant Professor at Ohio State University's Agronomy Department

  • Professor of Agronomy, Department Chair, and Graduate Dean at Texas A&M University

  • Vice President for Research and Graduate Dean at Iowa State University

  • President of the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States

  • Stevenson Award from the American Society of Agronomy

  • Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy

  • Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science

  • Distinguished Alumni Award from Brigham Young University

  • Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State University