Born in Portland, Oregon, in August of 1887, Samuel H. Graf entered the Oregon Agricultural College in 1903 to study engineering. He received five engineering degrees from the college - B.S., Electrical Engineering (1907); E.E., Electrical Engineering (1908); B.S., Mechanical Engineering (1908); M.E., Mechanical Engineering (1909); and M.S., Electrical Engineering (1909). Between 1909 and 1954 Graf held several faculty positions in engineering at Oregon State. From 1909-1912 he was an instructor in mechanical engineering; from 1912-1920 he was the head of experimental engineering; head of the Department of Mechanics and Materials (1920-1934) and of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (1934-1954); director of engineering research (1928-1944); and director of the Engineering Experiment Station (1944-1954).
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 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).
Photo of OAC cadet officer posed in dress tunic with sabre. Rank epaulets of the circa 1900 era uniform. Cadet has OAC collar badges and early style campaign hat. Portrait was taken at the Gardner Photography Studio in Corvallis, Oregon.