Herbert John Webber

Webber was born in Lawton, Michigan, on December 27, 1865, the only child of John Milton Webber and Rebecca Ann Bradt. In 1867, the family moved west to Marshalltown, Iowa, where they would remain for the next fifteen years before moving on to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1883. Webber attended Willow Hill School followed by the Albion Seminary for his primary school education. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1889, and his master's degree in 1890 from the University of Nebraska. In 1900, he received his Ph. D. from Washington University in St. Louis.

Beginning in 1892, Webber worked for the United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry in Florida where he investigated orange diseases and from 1889 to 1907 had charge of the department's plant breeding investigations. During 1920 Webber took a sabbatical from University of California to serve as general manager of South Carolina based Coker Pedigreed Seed Company only to return to the Citrus Experimentation Station the following year. He retired as director of the Experimentation Station in 1929 and retired from teaching in 1936. Webber was a founding member of the Los Angeles Farm Bureau. The book has been called the “bible of citrus growers.”

Webber was awarded a Doctor of Agriculture degree from the University of Nebraska in 1913 and a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of California in 1943. Webber Hall, a life sciences building on University of California, Riverside, was named in his honor.

On September 8, 1890, Webber married Lucene Anna Hardin. The couple had four children. Webber died in Riverside, California on January 18, 1946.