One factor to consider is that faculty in the hard sciences and engineering are far more likely to have contact with industry, compared to the humanities faculty. Many S&E colleges rely heavily for their funding on corporate-funded R&D.

First I think you are right, I bet the Obama vote was even higher among U. of Minnesota faculty. I was really surprised by how universal Obama support is in Minneapolis. I cross the southern part of the city daily, and I only saw Obama signs. And that was just in the city, he must have gotten an overwhelming landslide with the faculty vote. It actually amazed me how “I hope Obama wins” was the default conversation starter even among people who didn’t really know each other. Actually, it made me feel a bit awkward at times, I think it’s inappropriate at work to talk politics since you never know where people are coming from.

Second, I bet even at UMN there’s more Chomsky familiarity than Borlaug. I mean Chomsky just gets way more airtime.

Thanks for sharing your family’s higher ed history! I think it’s fascinating how people chose, pay for, and maneuver through their post-secondary education.

That is interesting (I’d heard about his sense of sympathy & awareness when he first arrived at college from the farm). I have no idea – given his work with Carter, he, too, may prefer Obama. I don’t want to imply otherwise.

My remark came in part because I’ve been at faculty dinners here (where he now teaches); a room full of people in the liberal arts won’t recognize his name. I do think ag research has improved our lives in many ways and we too seldom appreciate it.

We also forget the helpfulness of their sister fields. These seem to have disappeared but often have just been renamed, giving emphasis to the public, professional application of what were once described as domestic arts.

I would think the Minnesota faculty would vote at higher rates than 70% for Obama, but wonder if the generalization that Academic Studies made a few years ago about the ag college might not be true there?

My mother and aunt both went through home ec programs; both worked their way through & my aunt was in an early co-op. During the depression, this was important on the Ag campus at Nebraska. That systen flourished at UT (both my older daughters went that way), but here the Corps served a similar function (well, that was a part of what the Corps demanded and gave back.)

If its any consolation at my academic institution, the University of Minnesota, I think a lot of folks know who Norman Bourlag is. He’s one of our most famous alums. He had the opportunity to attend “the U” (as we affectionately call it here) because of one of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs which provided work study programs for students in need. Interestingly he went through the General College, which had been sort of back-door opportunity for students who didn’t quite meet the academic requirements of the U to get up to speed and then transfer to regular classes. This had been a major gateway to the university for disadvantaged students. Sadly the General College was shut down in 2006 despite much protest. My understanding was that the powers that be at the university decided they wanted to move up in the rankings and the General College was holding them back.

In any event, Bourlag is featured on plaques and in the alumni museum.

http://www.alumni.umn.edu/Wall_Names.html

However, I would guess that 70% of the faculty at this land grant university voted Obama.