Cooperative leader Torgerson honored at library dedication

UW–Madison’s Center for Cooperatives Library, which recently joined the Taylor-Hibbard Library in Taylor Hall, was officially dedicated as the Truman Torgerson Cooperative Collection in a ceremony held there Friday, Oct. 15.

The Cooperative Collection is made possible with a contribution from the Torgerson family as a memorial to Truman Torgerson.

Torgerson, who died in 1996, was a nationally recognized cooperative leader and a pioneer in the dairy industry. He is credited with organizing the Lake-to-Lake Dairy Cooperative, where he served from 1947 to 1982 as general manager within one of the country’s leading dairy processing and marketing cooperatives. The cooperative’s Kiel, Wis. cheese plant was the first in the country permitted to apply the U.S. “AA” designation on its cheddar cheese. The Lake-to-Lake brand is still recognized nationally.

He received numerous awards and honors and held many prominent positions during his career. In 1972 the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences acknowledged Torgerson’s contributions to the dairy processing and marketing fields as well as his efforts in community and civic affairs with its Honorary Recognition Award. He was named “Food Industry Man of the Year” in 1969 at the World Dairy Expo in Madison for helping to improve and promote dairy cooperatives.

Torgerson held many offices including serving as president of the UW National Alumni Association, as director of the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives, as chairman of the USDA Agriculture Research Committee, as director and secretary of Land O’ Lakes and as president of the Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives.

Born in Meridean, Wis., Torgerson entered UW–Madison in 1935 and graduated in 1939 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education and the NCAA light-heavyweight boxing championship.

Torgerson went on to teach agricultural education in Rusk County and after three years, became a county agricultural extension agent, first in Rusk County and then in Manitowoc County. In 1947, he was named CEO and general manager of the Lake-to-Lake Dairy Cooperative in Manitowoc, Wis.

Torgerson’s wife Ruth, son Randall, and daughter Pat attended the dedication ceremony along with Randall’s wife Sue and son Rolf. Randall Torgerson is deputy administrator of the Rural Business-Cooperative Service for the USDA in Washington, D.C.