Martin Mortensen (academic)


Martin Mortensen was an American Professor and Head of the Department of Dairy Industry at Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa.

Background

Martin Mortensen was born on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy in Sindal, Denmark. He was the son of Peder Christian Mortensen and Juliane Marie Mortensen. He completed a three-year course at the Royal Teachers Seminary and then emigrated to the America in 1893. After working in and managing dairies in the Midwest and on the Pacific Coast, he received a B.A. in Agriculture at Iowa State College. He subsequently received a LLD. from Kansas State College.

Career

Mortensen became Head of the Dairy Industry Department at Iowa State College in 1909 until 1938, and remained as a professor until 1953. He authored text books and also bulletins on dairy research. He was the past president, vice-president and secretary-treasurer of the American Dairy Science Association.
He married Amelia Christensen of Royal, Iowa and had two children, Marie Mortensen Biele and Edna Mortensen Kiely. In 1927 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog and in 1950 received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog.

Selected works