agricultural economics, worked for the NDSU Extension Service and later for North Dakota Seed Potato Co., where he developed markets in the U.S. and Canada. He was president of the Red River Valley Potato Growers and vice president of the National Potato Board. He also was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Potato Council. He then worked for Nickerson Seed Co. LTD of London, a division of Shell Oil. He was assigned to AgriPro as director of cereal seed. He was CEO of West Coast Beet Seed in Salem, Oregon, owned by Nickerson and first other multi-national companies. He was elected to the executive committee of the Beet Sugar Foundation. He was an Army veteran who lived in Fargo.