Sam Brownback was born on September 12, 1956, in Garnett, Kansas, the son of Nancy (Cowden) and Glen Robert Brownback.[10][11] He was raised in a farming family in Parker, Kansas; some of his ancestors, of German descent, settled in Kansas after leaving Pennsylvania following the Civil War.[12] Brownback was state president of the Kansas FFA Association, and was one of the national vice presidents of the National FFA Organization from 1976 to 1977.[13] While at Kansas State University, he was elected student body president and was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho.[14] He received his J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982.[15]