John S. Wold

Who is John S. Wold?

John Schiller Wold is a business leader and Republican politician from Wyoming who served a single term in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1971. He holds the distinction of being the first professional geologist to serve in Congress. Wold is currently the oldest living former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A Brother of the Alpha Delta Phi, Wold earned degrees from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1938 and Cornell University in 1939. During World War II, he served as a consulting physicist and gunnery officer for the U.S. Navy.

Wold served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1957 to 1959 and was the state's Republican chairman from 1960 to 1964. In 1964, he ran for the U.S. Senate against freshman incumbent Democrat Gale McGee, who won by a 54% to 46% margin. In 1968, he narrowly defeated on-again, off-again Congressman William Henry Harrison in the Republican primary before winning a decisive general election victory. Two years later, he gave up his House seat to run against incumbent Sen. Gale McGee again.