Dr. Alfred Russell Croft was born July 29, 1896 in Ogden, Utah to George Albert Croft and Mary Isabella Russell. He attended Weber Stake Academy in 1911 and dropped out two years later in 1913. Russell Croft stated in his autobiography: “My application for graduation from the Two Year Agricultural Course was denied without any particular regret, or reason, except that I had failed Algebra the year previously.” He continues, “I didn’t seem to give a damn either, so I skipped graduation exercises and went to the Croft Brothers Ranch where I was to stay for about 15 months”. Croft graduated from Weber Stake Academy in 1915 after 3 years of hard work.

Upon graduating from Weber Stake Academy, Alfred Croft registered for school at the Utah Agricultural College in September of 1915. While working on his degree, Croft took a job with the U.S. Geological survey in 1918 that he claims was his first job. In that same year, Alfred Croft was drafted to the U.S. military to serve in World War 1 and spent the next couple of months in Louisville, Kentucky. He graduated from Field Artillery Officers Training School in December of 1918. In 1919, Alfred Croft began a short employment with the Forest Service. In the late summer of 1919, Alfred Croft returned to Utah Agricultural College and graduated the following year in 1920.

In the years 1920-1921, Alfred Croft took a coaching and teaching position at Murdock Academy. In that same year, he was introduced to his future wife Irene Hutchings. On March 25, 1921, Alfred Russell Croft married Irene Hutchings in Richfield, Utah. In 1922, Alfred Croft than began teaching at Ogden High School which he terminated in 1924. In 1924, Alfred Croft along with his wife, moved back to Logan and began his Master’s program. Alfred Croft received his Masters of Science in May of 1925. In 1925, Alfred Croft than began teaching at Weber College and was tasked with developing courses in Botany, Zoology, and Physiology. Alfred Croft completed his Ph. D. in Forestry from Cornell University in 1932.

In 1934, Alfred Croft took a summer job with the Forest Service and worked on a project that later became known as the “Davis County Experimental Watershed”. Alfred Croft worked on the Davis County Experimental Watershed for 17 years. After a long career, which Croft worked as a researcher and eventually administration, he retired on April 27, 1962.

Alfred Russell Croft passed away on September 23, 1988.