Richard Jeffrey Nichols was the librarian at Oregon Agricultural College from 1902 to 1908. A native Oregonian, Nichols was the first librarian not educated at OAC, earning his degree from Willamette University.
Greer succeeded Margaret Snell as head of the Department of Domestic Science and Art in 1908, and was named the first dean as a result of President Kerr’s academic reorganization of the college. She served until spring 1911. Greer was a graduate of Vassar College and spent ten years as an instructor at New York’s Pratt Institute prior to coming to OAC.
Hoover, an OAC graduate in the Class of 1901, married Jay Bowerman, a future governor of Oregon, and was the mother of University of Oregon track coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. While at OAC, she played on the women’s basketball team. She returned to OAC to earn a second degree in home economics in 1916, and taught school for a number of years.
John Withycombe was a 1901 graduate of OAC and became a wheat rancher in eastern Oregon. James Withycombe, Experiment Station Director from 1908-1914 and Governor of Oregon from 1915-1919, was his uncle.
Margaret Comstock Snell became the first Professor of Household Economy and Hygiene in 1889. Snell was known as the "Apostle of fresh air", for her love of walks and open windows, and taught courses in sewing, cooking, entertaining, and conversation. Snell expanded the Home Economics department and retired in 1908.
John Eliphalet Smith was born on January 24, 1878 near McCoy in Polk County, Oregon. In 1902 Smith received his B.S. from OAC. His first wife was Julia McCullock of Salem, Oregon, who passed away in May 1930. He married a second time to Willetta Moor of Eugene, Oregon on August 30, 1932. Smith taught at OSC during the post-war period. He was one of the founders of the Benton County Pioneer Historical Society, and wrote a book and many articles on various historical subjects. Smith was also a Professor of Geology at many universities including the University of North Carolina (1912-1917) and Iowa State College (1917-1937).
