Obituary

Extension Economist Emeritus
Third Director of the California Agricultural Extension Service, 1956-1975

George Bennett Alcorn was the third Director of the Agricultural Extension Service (AES), now known as Cooperative Extension, during a period of its history that can best be described as a "coming of age." He was AES's leader during a period when California agriculture, already number one in the nation, was expanding rapidly. It was characterized by specialization, higher capital requirements, increasing mechanization, larger farms, high productivity, and increasingly well-educated and competent farmers.

He was born in Colorado, but always considered himself a Californian. After four and one half years of concentrated study, George graduated with a B.S. degree in 1936 and an M.S. degree in 1937 in agricultural economics. During this time, he still operated his egg business and mixing the realities of the business world with his formal studies. These studies were done at U.C. Berkeley.

In 1950 to 1951, George took his only sabbatical. He received a Carnegie Fellowship for studies in administration at Harvard University, emerging at the end of these studies with a Doctor of Public Administration degree.

As an economist, he made many contributions to national agricultural policy. He was heavily involved as a resource economist in agricultural policy making in many ways. He was one of the first economists to become involved in land use zoning, and he wrote some of the first publications on this subject during the late 1940's.

George's philosophy of leadership was basically simple. He recognized that his success as a leader and the success of the organization depended on a competent, highly motivated staff with freedom and support to do the job. His philosophy was undergirded by a strong, moral character and honesty with himself and his staff. He had respect and affection for his staff and took great pride in its accomplishments.

After his retirement in 1975, George spent a number of years on brief foreign assignments as a consultant for the State Department and the World Bank. He passed away on May 17, 1998