Member

Joseph, son of August and Amanda Duvel, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on November 16, 1873. He attended Ohio State University, where he received his BS degree and went on to achieve his doctor of science degree from the University of Michigan in 1902. Joseph was the assistant botanist for the Ohio Agricultural Experimental Station from 1898 to 1899 with the Bureau of Plant Industry. He also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He soon became a specialist in grain crops and developed many special and significant techniques including an instrument to test the moisture content of grain, which now has become a standard. He was in charge of grain standardization investigations with the U.S. Grain Corporation of New York, where he was a part of the War Food Administration for the World War. Between 1918 and 1925, he worked as a grain merchant for Winnipeg, Canada, a grain exchange supervisor for Chicago, and chief for the Commodity Exchange Administration in Washington, D.C. In 1918, he went to Australia and aided in the development of grain production for wartime. For these services he was awarded a gold medal and elected as an honorary life member of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales. Joseph was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of many clubs and societies including the Washington Botanical Society, the Potomac Grange, Kappa Sigma Fraternity, and Pi Gamma Mu, and he participated in the Cosmos Club. He was elected to membership in the Washington Biologists’ Field Club in 1903. Joseph died on May 6, 1946. He and his wife, Elva, had one daughter and one son.