Joseph D. “J.D.” Harrington was professor emeritus of agronomy and general manager of Ag Progress Days from July 1, 1957, until his retirement on Jan. 1, 1992. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 82. He also served as an AZ advisor for several years. Below are some of the comments alumni have been leaving on Facebook as they recall their fond memories of Dr. Harrington.
Vince Verbeke: I spent two years at Penn State DuBois. When I arrived at University Park, the very first class that I attended was Agronomy 001, taught by Dr Harrington. He was engaging — full of life and information. I remember thinking that if all the instructors here were like him, this was going to be an awesome year. While I may have been slightly disappointed by other classes (typically the non-ag ones), I was never disappointed by J.D. And I know that I will go to my grave knowing that dirt and SOIL are two different things.
Nancy Tallman Schlegel: “Corn is king. Alfalfa is the queen.”
Ken Raney: Don’t be late for class. Take your hat off and speak up when you answer questions!
Doug Seipt: Like Vince said of Agro 001, “Don’t ever call soil dirt! Two different things.” That was 36 years ago, but it seems like yesterday.
Greg Roth: I often think about Dr. Harrington and how he maintained discipline in classroom and made us push our seats back under the table at the end of the class. I also remember the sets of different seed vials that we all had to purchase and learn the differences between the types of clover and grass seeds. I think I still have mine in the attic somewhere. And he used to rib some of the kids about having their parents in class, which was fun too.