Dr. Elwood Mead was born in Patriot, Indiana on 16 Jan 1858, the son of Daniel and Lucinda Mead. He received his B.S. degree from Purdue University in 1882. He studied civil engineering at Iowa State University in 1883, receiving his Masters degree in 1884. In 1904 he received the D. Eng. from Purdue. Later, in 1925, he obtained an LL.D. from the University of Michigan. He married twice, first to Florence Chase (children- Luce, Arthur and Tom) and then to May Lewis (Catherine, Sue, John).
-1882-83 Mead served as an assistant engineer with the U.S. Engineers Corps.
-1883-84 and 1886-88: taught at the Colorado Agricultural College
-1888-99: Territory and state engineer for Wyoming
-1897-1907: Chief Irrigation and Drainage Investigation, U.S. Dept. Agriculture
-1898-1907: Professor of Institutions and Practice of Irrigation at the U. California
-1903: Published “Irrigation Institutions,” legal aspects of irrigation in the West
-1907-1915: Chairman, State Rivers and Water Supply commission, Australia
-1915: Returned to the U.S. Prof. Rural Institutions, U. California, Berkeley
-1923: Member of a fact finding commission to address problems with reclamation
-1924: Appointed first Commissioner of the newly established Bureau of Reclamation
-1923 and again in 1927, served as advisor for irrigation projects for the Zionist in Palestine
Mead believed that the small farmer was the basis for American agriculture and that irrigation and reclamation should be directed towards serving the needs of the family farmer. To this end he published “Helping men Own Farms,” in 1920, that championed the ideal of small-scale farming in America. Earlier he had written “Irrigation Institutions” (1903).
Mead was a member and past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, member of the British Institute of Civil Engineers, honorary life member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, which, in June, 1936, awarded him, posthumously, the McCormick gold medal for the most distinguished engineering service to agriculture; member of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the Washington Society of Engineers, and of Sigma Xi, the Cosmos Club, and the Commonwealth Club of California.
As a tribute to his work in irrigation and in the Bureau of Reclamation, the body of water that formed behind Hoover Dam was named for him. He died on 26 Jan 1936, living just long enough to see Hoover Dam, the greatest reclamation project at that time, completed.
-1882-83 Mead served as an assistant engineer with the U.S. Engineers Corps.
-1883-84 and 1886-88: taught at the Colorado Agricultural College
-1888-99: Territory and state engineer for Wyoming
-1897-1907: Chief Irrigation and Drainage Investigation, U.S. Dept. Agriculture
-1898-1907: Professor of Institutions and Practice of Irrigation at the U. California
-1903: Published “Irrigation Institutions,” legal aspects of irrigation in the West
-1907-1915: Chairman, State Rivers and Water Supply commission, Australia
-1915: Returned to the U.S. Prof. Rural Institutions, U. California, Berkeley
-1923: Member of a fact finding commission to address problems with reclamation
-1924: Appointed first Commissioner of the newly established Bureau of Reclamation
-1923 and again in 1927, served as advisor for irrigation projects for the Zionist in Palestine
Mead believed that the small farmer was the basis for American agriculture and that irrigation and reclamation should be directed towards serving the needs of the family farmer. To this end he published “Helping men Own Farms,” in 1920, that championed the ideal of small-scale farming in America. Earlier he had written “Irrigation Institutions” (1903).
Mead was a member and past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, member of the British Institute of Civil Engineers, honorary life member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, which, in June, 1936, awarded him, posthumously, the McCormick gold medal for the most distinguished engineering service to agriculture; member of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the Washington Society of Engineers, and of Sigma Xi, the Cosmos Club, and the Commonwealth Club of California.
As a tribute to his work in irrigation and in the Bureau of Reclamation, the body of water that formed behind Hoover Dam was named for him. He died on 26 Jan 1936, living just long enough to see Hoover Dam, the greatest reclamation project at that time, completed.