Bliss, Ralph Kenneth, 1880-

Director, Iowa State University Extension Service. Ralph Kenneth Bliss received a B.A. in animal husbandry from Iowa State University in 1905. After operating the family farm and serving on the faculty of Iowa State University and the University of Nebraska, he became Director of Extension at Iowa State University, a position he held from 1914 to 1946. Bliss served as secretary of the War Emergency Food Committee (1917), treasurer of the American Country Life Association, and chair of the state advisory committee of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. Bliss was on the Iowa Corn-Hog Commission as a part of the U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration (1933-1935) and was a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's War Board (1941-1946). During World War I and World War II, Bliss promoted the sale of bonds and served on the state's U.S. Savings Bond Committee. Bliss retired in 1946 but continued as director emeritus of extension. He also delivered numerous addresses on local WOI radio.