George Frederick Sprague (September 3, 1902 – November 24, 1998) was an American geneticist, maize researcher, faculty member atIowa State University and theUniversity of Illinois and a researcher at theUnited States Department of Agriculture. He developed a genetically strong line of maize known as Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic. A recipient of theWolf Prize in Agriculture, he was a fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of theNational Academy of Sciences.
Sprague was born inCrete, Nebraska. He was the son of minister Elmer Ellsworth and Lucy Manville Sprague. After graduating fromLincoln High School, he received an undergraduate degree from theUniversity of Nebraska and a Ph.D. fromCornell University under supervision ofRollins A. Emerson.[1]
Sprague was a professor atIowa State University. At Iowa State, he realized that open-pollinated corn often has weak roots and stalks. After intermating 16 lines known to have strong stalks and roots, he created Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic, still used in corn breeding as of 2008. His techniques took advantage of his belief that goodgermplasm was crucial to successful breeding.[2]
Leaving Iowa State for the USDAAgricultural Research Service (ARS) in 1958, Sprague led the Corn and Sorghum Investigations Unit.[2] He served as president of theAmerican Society of Agronomy in 1960.[3] He retired from the ARS in 1972 and took a research position at theUniversity of Illinois, where he was employed until 1994. In 1998, he died at his home inEugene, Oregon.[1]
Sprague was inducted into the ARS Science Hall of Fame in 1990.[4] He was a fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science. He was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences and he later chaired the organization's section on applied biology.[1] Sprague shared the 1978Wolf Prize in Agriculture with plant pathologistJohn Charles Walker.[5] In 2007, Iowa State University Department of Agronomy established the George F. Sprague Endowed Chair.[6]
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