professor, agricultural and land economist, author, b. Newton, Manitowoc County. He graduated from Oshkosh State Normal School (1908) and the Univ. of Wisconsin (B.S., 1913; M.S., 1920; Ph.D., 1922). From 1913 to 1917 he was extension lecturer at the Univ. of Texas, and from 1917 to 1918 was extension specialist for the office of farm markets of the state of Washington. In 1918 he became associate professor at the State College of Pennsylvania, and from 1925 to 1928 was professor of economics at Northwestern Univ. Returning to Wisconsin in 1928, Wehrwein became professor of agricultural economics at the Univ. of Wisconsin, serving in this capacity until his death. Widely known as an expert in land utilization, rural zoning, soil conservation, forest taxation, and public land management, Wehrwein was the author of Land Ownership and Tenure in the U.S. (1922), Economic Background of the Old Testament (1938), and was co-author, with Richard T. Ely (q.v.) of Outlines of Land Economics (1922) and Land Economics (1931). He was a member of the board of editors of the Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics, and a member of the land committee of the National Re-sources Planning Board, and was president (1942) of the American Farm Economic Association. In addition to his books, Wehrwein wrote numerous articles for professional and agricultural journals. Who Was Who in Amer. (1950); Jour. Farm Economics, 27 (1945), p. 232; Madison Capital Times, Jan. 11, 1945.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the George Simon Wehrwein Papers for details. See also the George Simon Wehrwein Theatrical Srcapbooks.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]