Dr. John Henry House and Susan Adeline Beers House arrive in Thessaloniki from the missionary teaching posts they had held since 1870 in Samokov, Bulgaria.

Kidnapping and ransoming of American missionary Ellen Stone and Madame Tsilka.

Dr. House purchases 50 acres of barren land 10 kilometers southeast of Thessaloniki, plants 400 mulberry trees, drills a 55-meter well and hires the first employee, a gardener.

Thessalonica Agricultural & Industrial Institute (soon to be known as the American Farm School or Farm School) is incorporated in the State of New York as a registered charity with the mission to educate the local population in the skills needed to succeed in farming.

First graduating class.

The American Farm School is recognized by the government of Greece as an institution offering a 5-year program of education and training to boys 15 years and older.

Asia Minor Disaster and Population Exchange.  Smryna refugee Thedoros Litsas arrives. Construction of Princeton Hall, the “Parthenon” of the Farm School, begins.

Charles Lucius House (son of and successor to the founder) is awarded the Silver Cross of the Order of the Phoenix by the Greek government.

Charles Lucius House is awarded the Gold Cross of the Order of the Savior by the
Greek government.

The American Farm School is awarded the Silver Medal of the Academy of Athens.

Fresh, pasteurized milk is introduced to Greece with the opening of a pasteurizing and  bottling plant to distribute American Farm School milk to market.

American Farm School closes; campus requisitioned by Axis forces.

Charles Lucius House and Ann Kellogg House deported to Liebenau and Ilag VII/Laufen concentration camps.

Reconstruction and reopening of the Farm School.

Founding of the Girls School (official name: Quaker Domestic Training School).

Senior class kidnapped by andartes band.

Bruce McKay Lansdale becomes third president of the School.

Bruce McKay Lansdale is awarded the Gold Cross of the Order of the Savior by the Greek government.

American Farm School adopts officially recognized Greek state curricula of Technical Vocational High School and Technical Vocational School.

Bruce McKay Lansdale is awarded the Commander of the Order of Honor by the Greek government.

George Draper becomes the fourth president of the School.

Dimitris Perrotis College of Agricultural Studies is founded..

The American Farm School, in collaboration with Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, introduces Omega-3 eggs to the Greek market.

Department of Lifelong Learning is created.

David Buck becomes the fifth president of the School.

Academy of Athens awards the School for “the education it provides rural youth and for its contribution to the rural development of Greece since 1904.”

American Farm School celebrates its Centennial (1904-2004).

Manuel Stefanakis becomes the sixth president of the School.

William W. McGrew becomes the seventh president of the School.

New curricula for a General High School, Vocational High School, and Vocational School begin operation in the Secondary Program.

Perrotis College of Agriculture, Environment and Life Sciences expands to a BSc (Hons) course of study.

Dr. Panos Kanellis becomes the eighth president of the School.

Opening of Educational Dairy and Milk Processing Training Center.

Opening of the Aliki Perroti Student Residence.

Founding of the Primary School (Thessaloniki Schools for Experiential Learning) at the American Farm School to offer environmental education through experiential learning from Preschool through the 6th grade.

Founding of the Center for Agricultural Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Opening of the Elementary School on the School’s premises.

Opening of the Aliki Perroti Research Laboratories at Perrotis College.

Opening of the Perrotis College Krinos Olive Center.

Perrotis College offers a one year certificate program in Greek titled “Contemporary Agricultural Practices” for high school graduates.

Founding of the School of Professional Education and the Strategic Project Management Office.

Foundation of the New Educational Center “Aliki Perrotis.”

Renovation of Perrotis College for the accommodation of the Seth Frank Graduate Studies Building.

Opening of the Perrotis College School of Graduate Studies. Inauguration of the Aliki Perroti Educational Center.

Opening of the Institute of Technological Studies.

Opening of the Haseotes Middle School.

Dr. Jeff Lansdale becomes the ninth president of the School.

Inauguration of the Pantelis Panteliadis High School.

Launch of the Beekeeping Center.

Inauguration of the permanent exhibition “Tools of Tradition: Pavlos Kontellis Collection,” on the School’s premises.

Visit of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and his appointment as an honorary professor of Environmental Science at Perrotis College.

Completion of 120 years since the founding of the American Farm School.

Το Πιστεύω της Αμερικανικής Γεωργικής Σχολής

Πιστεύω σε μια γεωργία με μακροπρόθεσμη προοπτική, στο χώμα που γίνεται πλουσιότερο αντί φτωχότερο από χρόνο σε χρόνο.

Πιστεύω στο να ζω όχι για τον εαυτό μου αλλά για τους άλλους, έτσι ώστε οι μελλοντικές γενεές να μην υποφέρουν εξαιτίας των δικών μου γεωργικών μεθόδων.

Πιστεύω ότι οι καλλιεργητές είναι οι φροντιστές της γης και θα θεωρηθούν υπεύθυνοι για την πιστή εκτέλεση του καθήκοντός τους.

Είμαι περήφανος που είμαι αγρότης και θα προσπαθήσω να φανώ αντάξιος του ονόματος.

Δρ. Τζων Χένρυ Χαουζ,  1910

Dr. Jeffrey Lansdale has 45 years of experience managing development and education programs in different regions of the world. During the past 35 years in Honduras, Dr. Lansdale assumed leadership roles of USAID-funded projects, primarily in the education sector. He has coordinated directly with governments, local and international NGO’s, and major donors including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the international development agencies of Canada, Japan, Spain, and Sweden. From 2014-2020, Dr. Lansdale served as President of Zamorano University, located in Honduras.  Dr. Lansdale is presently serving as President of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Dr. Lansdale lived in Greece for 18 years, where his father served as director of the American Farm School. He managed refugee rehabilitation programs on the Thai-Cambodian border for two years, spent a year in India, and conducted his dissertation research in Bolivia for a year.

Dr. Lansdale holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University, master’s degrees from California Polytechnic State University and the School for International Training in Vermont, and a B.A. degree from Stanford University. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Greek. He is an adjunct professor of North Carolina State University.