W.D. Hoard”s bronze likeness has welcomed visitors to the UW-Madison”s agricultural campus since 1922. After eight decades of watching over Henry Mall, Hoard”s statue has gotten a professional makeover.

The statue was not a good candidate for Botox treatments (even though the raw material for all Botox injections was developed just down the street at the Department of Food Microbiology and Toxicology); instead, it got a high-pressure wash and a chemical peel, which changed its complexion from weathered turquoise to lustrous bronze.

The UW-Madison grounds crew tried to lift Hoard off his marble foundation, but he was stuck to the stone so they cleaned him up in place. A sculpture conservator from the McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc. did the cleaning

The statue of William Dempster Hoard – the “Father of Modern Dairying” – was unveiled Feb. 3, 1922. More than 8,000 people attended the dedication ceremony. The event marked the 50th anniversary of the State Dairymen”s Association – Wisconsin”s first statewide dairy producers association, organized by Hoard at Whitewater.

The statue was created by Gutzon Borglum, designer of the Mount Rushmore Memorial. The monument and statue cost $16,000; much of that money was supplied by dairy farmers who donated a dollar each to the Hoard Testimonial Fund.

Born at Stockbridge, N.Y. in 1836, Hoard came to Wisconsin in 1857. He returned after serving in the Civil War, and founded the Jefferson County Union newspaper in 1870.

In the 1870s, the combination of chinch bugs and depleted soils had devastated wheat farmers throughout Wisconsin. Hoard believed that dairy cows and a dairy industry offered Wisconsin agriculturists a profitable future, and he dedicated his life to promoting and improving the dairy industry.

Hoard worked constantly to improve the quality of milk and dairy products produced in Wisconsin. As secretary of the dairymen”s association, he negotiated a rate cut with railroad officials that made it economical for Wisconsin producers to ship refrigerated cheese to the East Coast.

In 1885 he founded Hoard”s Dairyman, today the nation”s leading dairy periodical. Hoard was elected governor of Wisconsin in 1888, and worked throughout his term to improve dairying and farming in the state. Hoard also served as chairman of the UW Board of Regents. He died at his home in Fort Atkinson in 1918.