J. Clark Salyer at Central

J. Clark Salyer's photo in the 1921 student yearbook, the Ragout. Salyer's hometown of Lexington is listed, plus his extracurricular activities, and a nickname: "Huxley II."

Biology Club in the 1921 student yearbook, the Ragout. Salyer is the second from the left on the bottom row.

J. Clark Salyer's 1922 Ragout photo. Note the adjective chosen for him-- "Sarcastic"-- as well as the class's purported graduation year of 1924; Salyer did not graduate until 1927.

Encouraged by his high school friend, Gordon Alexander (class of 1923), and his high school science teacher, Monroe Clemens (also a Central alum), J. Clark Salyer applied to and entered Central College (now Central Methodist University) in 1920.

At the time, Central was known for its impressive, state-of-the-art science education, driven by professors such as Frederick Isley, who was teaching genetics courses at Central as early as 1913, and Edwin A. Jenner, who in the 1920s offered courses on the cutting edge of life science, including microbiology (then called bacteriology) and embryology as well as laboratory sciences, as well as field trips to the study the local flora and fauna.

Salyer's time at Central was prolonged by an interruption: he left in the spring of 1922, and did not return until 1925, for reasons that remain unclear. His grandfather, John Clark Salyer I, died in the spring of 1925, and a booming demand for raccoon fur coats may have caused Salyer to try to make enough money for college by trapping and selling furs. When he returned in 1925, though, he was awarded with a teaching fellowship and graduated in 1927.