Orion Samuelson

Biography

Orion Samuelson is heard on WGN Radio, where he has served as Agribusiness Director since 1960. Orion presents daily agricultural and business reports on WGN, in addition to co-hosting The Morning Show, WGN Radio`s agriculture program, with his longtime colleague Max Armstrong on Saturdays at 5am.

Orion is also heard daily on stations across the Midwest with his syndicated National Farm Report and Samuelson Sez. Orion and Max are seen weekly on rural channel RFD-TV, carried on Dish-TV and DirecTV on This Week in Agribusiness.

His life-long commitment to agriculture has been recognized by organizations in all segments of agri-business. In May of 2001, Orion was named a Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois and received the Lincoln Medal, the highest award bestowed by the state of Illinois. A week later the University of Illinois presented Orion with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters. In January of 1998, the American Farm Bureau Federation honored Orion and Bob Dole with the AFBF Distinguished Service Award. At the 1997 Illinois State Fair, Governor Jim Edgar changed the name of the Junior Livestock Building to the Orion Samuelson Junior Livestock Building as a tribute to Orion`s nearly 4 decades of service to the agricultural youth of Illinois. In October of 1994, Orion was honored as "Man of the Year" by Heifer Project International on its 50th anniversary. He has received the National 4-H Alumni Award and the Honorary FFA American Farmer Degree and is an honorary member of Alpha Gamma Rho, the agriculture fraternity.

In 1985, Orion was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame, the NAFB Hall of Fame and in November 2003, Orion received the highest award in the radio broadcasting industry when he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago. Hall of Famer Paul Harvey presented Orion with the award on the national broadcast hosted by Larry King.

Orion has traveled internationally to 43 countries to cover agricultural production and trade for his radio and television shows, including Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Scotland, England, Hungary, France, Denmark, India, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Peoples Republic of China, Brazil, the former USSR, Vietnam and Indonesia. He has also been involved in four official government trips. In October 1989, Orion traveled to Taipei to receive the International Communicator of the Year Award from the President of the Republic of China.

Samuelson is also active in areas outside broadcasting. He is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation, a Trustee of the Cornerstone Foundation of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI), and a Trustee of the National 4-H Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of Agriculture Future of America, Foods Resource Bank, and Farm Safety 4 Just Kids.

Titles

From Reaper to Satellite