dr. brown received his b.s. (1909), a.m. (1909), and ph.d. (1912) from rutgers university. in 1910 he joined the iowa state college faculty as assistant professor (1910-1912) of soil bacteriology. soon after he was promoted to associate professor (1912-1914) and professor (1914-1932). in 1932 he became the head of the department of agronomy and served until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1937. his major interests of study included soil bacteriology, soil fertility and soil survey. during his time at iowa state he was heavily involved in establishing curriculum in the soil science discipline.