Edgar Monsanto Queeny

Who was Edgar Monsanto Queeny?

Edgar Monsanto Queeny was an US industrialist, chairman of the Monsanto corporation from 1928.

Edgar Monsanto Queeny was the son of John Francis Queeny and his wife, Olga Mendez Monsanto. In the First World War, he served as a seaman in the US Navy.

Edgar Monsanto Queeny took over the leadership of Monsanto, which had been founded by his father, in 1928. At this time, it had just been listed on the stock exchange as a public company. He led the company through the 1929 stock market crisis and its expansion into a major US industrial company with a global presence before he retired in 1960. In 1958, Monsanto's assets had grown from $12 million as he took over to $857 million.

Edgar Monsanto Queeny was also a noted conservationist. He published the book Prairie Wings, called a "classic study of American wildfowl in flight", and participated in the production of several nature documentaries, including some from Africa produced in cooperation with Kenyan guide Donald Ker.

In 1960, Edgar Monsanto Queeney turned the chair of Monsanto over to his successor, Charles Allen Thomas, one of the founders of the company's research and development laboratory.