Elwood Mead

Elwood Mead (January 16, 1858 – January 26, 1936) was a professor, politician and engineer, known for heading the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1924 until his death in 1936. During his tenure, he oversaw some of the most complex projects the Bureau of Reclamation has undertaken. These included the Hoover, Grand Coulee and Owyhee dams.

Mead was born in Patriot, Indiana, and graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in 1882. He worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Indianapolis for seven months and departed for Fort Collins, Colorado, by the end of the year.

There he started work as a professor by teaching mathematics at Colorado Agricultural College from 1883 until 1884, and again from 1886 to 1888. He developed and taught the first class on irrigation engineering in the United States. Mead also worked for the Colorado State Engineer's Office.

In 1888, Mead became the territorial and state engineer of Wyoming. From 1888 until 1899, he was key in drafting the water laws for Wyoming. He was also a key supporter of the Cody Canal, one of the nation's first Carey Act projects undertaken by a group of investors, including William F. Cody.

In 1899, Mead was appointed head of irrigation investigations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, based out of Cheyenne. There he had an important role of directing irrigation studies across the west.

In 1907, Mead was appointed Chairman of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria, Australia. He served there for four years, though the Australian records show that he continued to work there until May, 1915.

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