Beadle, George Wells (22 October 1903–09 June 1989), geneticist and university president, was the son of Hattie Albro and Chauncey Elmer Beadle, farmers near Wahoo, Nebraska. He was raised on a small farm that was noteworthy for its sound agricultural practices. After the early death of his mother and the accidental death of an older brother, it was assumed that he would take over the farm. Instead, thanks to the beneficent influence of Bess MacDonald, a high school teacher, he went to college. Further encouraged by the mentoring of Franklin D. Keim, an agronomy professor at the Nebraska College of Agriculture, Beadle entered graduate school at Cornell University in 1927 to pursue a career in biology....
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Beadle, George Wells (1903-1989), geneticist and university president
Richard M. Burian
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Beadle, George Wells (1903-1989)
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George Wells Beadle. Courtesy of the Clendening History of Medicine Library, University of Kansas Medical Center.
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Elvehjem, Conrad Arnold (1901-1962), biochemist and university administrator
Patricia Dwyer-Hallquist
Elvehjem, Conrad Arnold (27 May 1901–27 July 1962), biochemist and university administrator, was born near McFarland, Wisconsin, the son of Ole Johnson Elvehjem and Christine Lewis, farmers. Growing up on a farm gave Elvehjem a lifelong interest in understanding living things, which he pursued as a researcher in biochemistry and nutrition. His interest in vitamins started as a child, when he read a magazine article about the research done by early pioneers in nutrition including ...
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Jordan, David Starr (1851-1931), naturalist and educator
Roger L. Geiger
Jordan, David Starr (19 January 1851–19 September 1931), naturalist and educator, was born in Gainesville, New York, the son of Hiram Jordan and Huldah Hawley, farmers. Jordan obtained his secondary education in the Gainesville Female Seminary (1865) and then briefly became a primary teacher (1868). A county scholarship permitted his belated entry to the initial class at Cornell University. To support himself, he became an instructor in biology in his junior year and completed sufficient work to be granted a master of science degree after less than four years of study (1872)....
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Jordan, David Starr (1851-1931)
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David Starr Jordan Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-111666 ).
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Little, Clarence Cook (1888-1971), scientist and educator
Karen Rader
Little, Clarence Cook (06 October 1888–22 December 1971), scientist and educator, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of James Lovell Little, a Boston merchant, and Mary Robbins Revere. Little enrolled at Harvard University in 1906 to study zoology. He obtained a B.A. in 1910 with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and took a masters degree (M.S., 1912) and a doctorate (Sc.D., 1914) in the same subject under ...
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McCrady, Edward (1906-1981), biologist and university president
Arthur Ben Chitty
McCrady, Edward (19 September 1906–27 July 1981), biologist and university president, was born in Canton, Mississippi, the son of Edward McCrady, an Episcopal priest, and Mary Ormond Tucker. Descended from an old South Carolina family distinguished in law, politics, religion, and science, McCrady graduated with a degree in classics from the College of Charleston in 1927. In 1928 he joined the staff of the Highlands Art Museum (N.C.) after the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston sent him to do graduate work in Japanese at Columbia University. Though tempted to study both theology and medicine, he switched to biology for his master’s degree, which he received from the University of Pittsburgh in 1930. That same year he married Edith May Dowling, whom he had met during his summer studies at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. They had four children....
