Dr. Garth Cahoon (1924-2012), a native of Delta, Utah, earned a degree in technical soils from the Utah State University in 1950 and a Ph.D in Plant Science from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1954.

He worked as a horticulturist at the University of California at Riverside from 1953 to 1963 before coming to Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster as an associate professor in horticulture. Promoted to full professor in 1967, in 1983 he was named the assistant chair of the department. Professional assignments in India, Somalia and the Caribbean broadened his knowledge of small fruit horticulture.

As professors, Dr. Garth Cahoon and Dr. James Gallander, an OARDC colleague inducted in the Ohio Hall of the Fame in 2001, taught and inspired a whole new generation of winemakers in the techniques of growing grapes and making wine. Both were instrumental in the creation of the Ohio Wine Producers Association and the Ohio Grape Industries program.

Sources: Ohio Wine Industry Honors Founding Fathers with the Creation of the ‘Ohio Wine Hall of Fame’ Press Release from the Ohio Wine Producers Association (2001), and Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website.