{{Short description|American agriculturalist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Mason Vaugh | image = Mason Vaugh in Allahabad.jpg | image_size = 180px | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|mf=y|1894|6|27}} | birth_place = Bonne Terre, Missouri, United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=y|1978|10|7|1894|6|27}} | death_place = Ohio, United States | field = Agricultural Engineering<br>Agricultural machinery | work_institutions = Allahabad Agricultural Institute <br>University of Missouri<br>Ohio State University<!--Wikipedians do not use "The" as part of Ohio State's name; it is considered a marketing gimmick, and routinely deleted.--> | alma_mater = University of Missouri }}
'''Mason Vaugh''' (June 27, 1894 – October 7, 1978) was an American agriculturalist who developed the first agricultural engineering department outside North America in 1921 at Allahabad Agricultural Institute.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=The Literature of Agricultural Engineering|author1=Hall, C.W.|author2=Olsen, W.C.|date=1992|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801428128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMeymVLwgGQC|page=34|accessdate=2 January 2015}}</ref>
== Early life == Mason Vaugh was born on June 27, 1894, in Bonne Terre, Missouri. He graduated at the top of his class from grammar school and high school. He served in the US Army during World War I.<ref name="google2">{{cite book |author=Shavit, D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWdZTaJdc6UC |title=The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary |date=1990 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=9780313267888 |page=504 |accessdate=2 January 2015}}</ref> In 1919 he was given a B.Sc. in agriculture from the University of Missouri and in 1928 earned the equivalent of a M.Sc. in agricultural engineering in 1928.
==Work in India== In 1921 he became a lay missionary in India, teaching agricultural engineering at Allahabad Agricultural Institute.<ref name=Rotarian>{{cite news|last=Kramer|first=Howard D.|title='Shabash' Means 'Well Done'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkYEAAAAMBAJ|accessdate=2 January 2015|newspaper=The Rotarian|date=November 1953|publisher=Rotary International|issn=0035-838X|page=15}}</ref>
Vaugh adapted traditional Indian materials into modern agricultural implements. Among his innovations was the Shabash, an improved plow consisting of a plowshare, a moldboard, a few bolts and a wood beam. Improved implements such as the Shabash made it possible for farmers to plow larger areas than previously possible.<ref name=Rotarian/>
Vaugh introduced several other implements, such as hoes, cultivators and the wheat threshers. He was the leader of the Agricultural Development Society (ADS), established in Naini to manufacture and sell improved implements developed by ADS and the institute. He retired in 1957 and returned to the United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=C Vaugh, Mason (1894-1978), Papers, 1928-1970|url=http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/3130.pdf|work=shs.umsystem.edu/|accessdate=2 January 2015|date=22 August 2012|archive-date=21 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821233755/http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/3130.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Agricultural Implements & Farm Machinery |url=http://www.clustercollaboration.eu/documents/270930/0/Diagnostic+Study+Report+on+Moga,+Punjab.pdf|work=clustercollaboration.eu|accessdate=2 January 2015|date=22 June 2007}}</ref>
He has often been called the father of agricultural engineering in India.<ref name="google3">{{cite book|title=Food Security in South Asia|author1=Chaturvedi, P.|author2=Indian Association for the Advancement of Science|date=2002|publisher=Indian Association for the Advancement of Science|isbn=9788170229728|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aaSgGCc8nxEC|page=186|accessdate=2 January 2015}}</ref> In his honor Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE) established the Mason Vaughn Agricultural Engineering Pioneer Award. Prof. Ralph C. Hay was the first recipient of this award for his contribution in establishing agricultural engineering programs at IIT Kharagpur (1954–56) and Pantnagar University (1962–64).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isae.in/sites/default/files/Awards%202012.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-03-01 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304031131/http://www.isae.in/sites/default/files/Awards%202012.pdf |archivedate=2014-03-04 }}</ref>
==See also== *Vaugh School of Agricultural Engineering and Technology
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Mason}} Category:American agriculturalists Category:Agriculture in India Category:1894 births Category:1978 deaths Category:People from Bonne Terre, Missouri Category:University of Missouri alumni Category:20th-century American people