University of Illinois School of Agriculture Dean and leader in livestock marketing and strategies to increase production.
1871-1938 | Portrait no longer in the collection, perhaps never repainted after the 1934 fire.
Impact & Accomplishments
Like his brother, Frederick, who was honored with a Saddle & Sirloin induction the same year, Herbert Windsor Mumford was born in Moscow, Michigan, and educated at Albion College and Michigan Agricultural College.
After teaching briefly at his alma mater, Mumford accepted a position as head of the Animal Husbandry Department at the University of Illinois in 1901. He was appointed dean in 1922.
Dean Mumford’s expertise was in purebred breeding stock, particularly Duroc hogs, Jersey cattle, and beef cattle, and his skill as a judge was demonstrated when he was named Chair of Cattle Jurors at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.
H. W. Mumford was a leader in livestock marketing and strategies to increase production, as economic hardship loomed in the 1920s. He created models that were adopted at the national level, and he advised many foreign nations on livestock matters.
Did You Know?
A champion of livestock producers everywhere, H.W. Mumford wrote a tribute in 1913 while preparing an article for a student publication. Two years later, it was published in the Breeder's Gazette, the most widely read livestock publication in the United States at the time.
'A Tribute to the Stockman' by H.W. Mumford
Behold the Stockman!
Artist and Artisan,
He may be polished, or a diamond in the rough — but always a gem.
Whose devotion to his animals is second only to his love of God and family.
Whose gripping affection is tempered only by his inborn sense of the true proportion of things.
Who cheerfully braves personal discomfort to make sure his livestock suffer not.
To him there is a rhythm in the clatter of the horse's hoof, music in the bleating of the sheep and in the lowing of the herd.
His approaching footsteps call forth the affectionate whinny of recognition.
His calm, well-modulated voice inspires confidence and wins affection.
His coming is greeted with demonstrations of pleasure, and his going with evident disappointment.
Who sees something more in cows than the drudgery of milking, more in swine than the grunt and squeal, more in the horse than the patient servant, and more in sheep that the golden hoof.
Herdsman, shepherd, groom — yes, and more. Broad-minded, big-hearted, and whole-souled: whose life and character linger long after the cordial greeting is stilled and the hearty handshake is but a memory: whose silent influence forever lives. May his kind multiply and replenish the earth.
University of Illinois Agriculture Professor, Herbert W. Mumford with a cow. July 23, 1912 Photo credit: University of Illinois Archives.
Mumford Hall at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.