Dwight O. Seegmiller: National FFA President 1972–73
Iowa · No. 46 of 100 · National FFA President 1972–73
At a Glance
- Office: National FFA President, 1972–73 (No. 46 of 100)
- Home state: Iowa, from Decorah
- Earlier office: Iowa State FFA President, elected at age 18
- Background: Dairy farmer
- Officer team: Timothy Daugherty (Missouri), Zane Hansen (Idaho), Bruce Erath (New York), Robert Hinton (Florida) and secretary Jerry Goolsby (Oklahoma)
Dwight Seegmiller was a teenage dairy farmer from northeast Iowa when he led the Iowa FFA Association, and still in his early twenties when he led the national organization. His 1972–73 term fell in one of the most interesting stretches in FFA history: a few years after girls were admitted to membership, in the first years they could earn the American Farmer Degree and at a time when the organization counted more than 440,000 members.
Road to National Office
Seegmiller is listed by the Official FFA Manual as the second consecutive Iowan to hold the national presidency; Tim J. Burke of Iowa served in 1971–72. Before that, a Des Moines Register headline indexed in the University of Northern Iowa library’s digital collection reads “Dwight Seegmiller, eighteen, of Decorah, to head Iowa Future Farmers,” marking his election as Iowa state FFA president at 18. In his home county of Winneshiek he was a working dairy farmer, a detail that newspaper coverage of his national term repeatedly emphasized.
The National Presidency
The 1972–73 national officer team was elected at the 45th National FFA Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, in October 1972. Seegmiller was president. The team included Timothy Daugherty of Missouri (central region vice president), Zane Hansen of Idaho (Pacific region vice president), Bruce Erath of New York, Robert Hinton of Florida and Jerry Goolsby of Oklahoma as national secretary, according to FFA’s own account and the Virginia FFA association newsletter of November 1972.
By August 1973, newspaper coverage described him as a 20-year-old Decorah dairy farmer leading an organization of about 445,000 members. His year included state convention appearances, among them one in Wisconsin in June 1973, and the national spotlight of American Farmer Degree presentations. Girls had been admitted to FFA membership in 1969, and at the 1973 convention Seegmiller helped present American Farmer Degrees to four young women, only the second year women were eligible. At that convention he also delivered his retiring address, titled “Act Now or Forever…,” recorded in the 1973 convention proceedings.
Life After FFA
The documented record of what Seegmiller did after his term is thin, and this site only reports what a source ties directly to the 1972–73 president. What is documented is how he regards the experience. When the six members of the 1972–73 team returned half a century later to perform the opening ceremonies at a National FFA Convention marking the 50th anniversary of their election, Seegmiller told FFA, “I have worn my National FFA ring for over 50 years.” Daugherty spoke of the feeling of belonging to something bigger than any one officer.
Legacy
Seegmiller’s year is remembered as part of a team that opened the door wider for women in FFA and kept the organization growing through the early 1970s. His reunion with his teammates, who performed the opening ceremonies decades later, is a small example of what FFA officers often say about the organization: the blue jacket is a lifelong connection, not a one-year role.
Next: G. Mark Mayfield, 1973–74 →
Sources
- National FFA Organization: “National Officers: Past Meets the Present”
- Virginia FFA Association newsletter, November 1972 (1972–73 national officers)
- University of Northern Iowa Des Moines Register index: Future Farmers of America
- ERIC: 1973 National FFA Convention proceedings
- Official FFA Manual, Past National Presidents of FFA and NFA