Known for his leadership in agricultural education, Bradford Knapp served as first director of the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service and helped plan and carry out overseas food production for the Agriculture Department during World War I. He later served as Dean of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas from 1920 to 1923, and as president of the universities now known as Oklahoma State from 1923 to 1928, Auburn from 1928 to 1932, and Texas Tech from 1932 to 1938.