Early Life and Education
Schweitzer was born in Havre, Montana, the fourth of six children of Kathleen (née McKernan) and Adam Schweitzer. His paternal grandparents were ethnic Germans from present-day Russia and Ukraine and his maternal grandparents were Irish. Following his high school years at The Abbey School, Holy Cross Abbey, Canon City, Colorado in 1973, Schweitzer earned his Bachelor of Science degree in international agronomy from Colorado State University in 1978 and a Master of Science in soil science from Montana State University, Bozeman in 1980.
Upon finishing school, Schweitzer worked as an irrigation developer on projects in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. He spent several years working in Libya and Saudi Arabia, and speaks Arabic. He returned to Montana in 1986 to launch a ranching and irrigation business in Whitefish.
Bill Clinton appointed Schweitzer to the United States Department of Agriculture as a member of the Montana USDA Farm Service Agency committee, where he worked for seven years. While working for the USDA, he was appointed to the Montana Rural Development Board (1996) and the National Drought Task Force (1999).
Read more about this topic: Brian Schweitzer
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