Myers, Charles Emory, 1882-1957

Charles Everett Myers graduated from Pennsylvania State College in 1908. He was a professor of Plant Breeding, serving on the Penn State faculty from 1911 until his retirement in 1944.

Dr. Charles Emory Myers, of Tivoli, Pennsylvania, received his Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from Penn State in 1908 before earning his master's and doctorate degrees at Cornell University in 1911 and 1922, respectively. He then returned to Penn State, where he was a professor of plant breeding for thirty-six years, retiring on March 1, 1944. Some of the plants he bred include Penn State Earliana, the Matchum, the Penn State, the Pennheart, the Stemless Pennorange, and the Stemless Pennred tomatoes. The horticultural Committee on All-American Selections awarded his tomato a bronze medal in 1936 and his Penn State Ballhead Cabbage a silver medal in 1934. Myers was known for his unique teaching methods; he taught plant genetics through drawing comparisons with human beings and is said to have never proctored an exam, believing that students, like vegetables, are inherently good if raised properly. Myers was involved in many groups during his time at Penn State, both as a student and as a professor. Some of these groups include Acacia fraternity, Alpha Zeta (professional agricultural fraternity), Gamma Sigma Delta (agricultural honor society), Society of Sigma Xi (scientific society), American Genetics Association, Society for Horticultural Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also a Mason and a member of the Society of Friends. Myers died July 10, 1957.