Schaub, I. O. (Ira Obed), 1880-1971.

Ira Obed Schaub (1880-1971) was born in Stokes County, North Carolina, on September 28, 1880. The fourth of five sons of William Henry and Mary Grabs Schaub, he attended Pinnacle Academy in the town of Pinnacle, North Carolina. From 1896 to 1900, he attended North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University) and was one of the college's first graduates, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. Upon his graduation from North Carolina State, Schaub did graduate work in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, leaving before receiving a degree. His first job was as assistant chemist in the Illinois Experiment Station, where he worked for nearly two years. In 1905, Schaub moved to Iowa and became assistant professor of soils at Iowa State College. Schaub returned to North Carolina State College in 1909 and became involved in work with boys' and girls' 4-H clubs until 1913, when he became superintendent of farm demonstration work for the Frisco Railroad, based in Springfield, Missouri. In 1918, when, due to World War I, the Frisco Railroad was taken over by federal authorities, Schaub began work for the United States Department of Agriculture as their field agent for southern states.

In 1924, Schaub again returned to North Carolina State College and worked as director of agricultural extension through his retirement in 1950. In 1926, Schaub became Dean of the School of Agriculture at North Carolina State College, a position he held through 1945 concurrently with his agricultural extension work. He was also the director of North Carolina State College's Experiment Station from 1937 through 1940.

Schaub was active in many organizations during his life, including the Kappa Sigma fraternity, the City of Raleigh Planning Commission, the Agricultural Foundation of North Carolina, the State Council of National Defense, the Pine Burr Scholarship Society of North Carolina State College, the North Carolina Agricultural Hall of Fame Board of Directors, and the North Carolina Rural Rehabilitation Board. He was an unofficial North Carolina State University historian, composing manuscripts on former faculty members and the board of trustees of the college. Schaub also consulted with the first North Carolina State University Archivist on the activities and operations of the University Archives. He received two honorary doctorates of agriculture: one from Clemson University in 1937 and one from N.C. State in 1951.

Schaub married Maud Kennedy, daughter of an Iowa farm family, on July 27, 1910. The Schaubs had two children: Maud Kennedy and Ira Obed, Jr. Schaub died on September 13, 1971, in Raleigh at the age of 90.

From the guide to the Ira Obed Schaub Papers, 1855 - 1974, (Special Collections Research Center)