Henry A. Wallace

Wallace is surely best known for his political career. He was the 33rd Vice President of the United States, serving during the third term of Franklin Roosevelt. Seen as too liberal, especially on the issue of race and civil rights, conservative southern Democrats blocked his renomination. He served as secretary of commerce under Harry Truman and ran as a third-part candidate in 1948 in a campaign marked by its racial integration in the South. With the failure of his presidential campaign, he returned to science and agricutlure -- although he continued good will activities abroad.

Less well known is Wallace's career as a scientist. He was the son of a professor at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). George Washington Carver was at Iowa State at the time and had a great influence on the young Wallace, who actively pursued a scientific career in plant biology. Wallace introduced the first viable strain of hybrid corn and founded Hi-bred (now Pioneer Hi-bred) still one of the most profitable agricultural companies in the US. Hybrid corn accounted for less than 3% of the crop prior to Wallace's researchers and increased to over 80% in just five years. Today virtually all corn is hybrid.

Following his success in plant biology he taught himself statistics and most especially econometrics, the application of statistical methods to the study of markets. He became a pioneer in the analysis of agricultural economics and he gave a series of lectures, with George Snedecor, on statistics to the faculty at Iowa State. These lectures were instrumental in inspiring the faculty at Iowa State to found the prestigious biometrics laboratory in Ames.

Wallace came from a distignuished Repbulcian family, his father having served as Secretary of Agriculture in the Garfield administration. Wallace himself was a liberal Republican who converted to the New Deal and became a liberal Democrat. Throughout his life he was dedicated to science, peace, and equality.

During one of may trips to Latin American to help improve agriculture and living conditions there, Wallace noticed in 1964 in Guatemala the first symptons of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's desease) that eventually took his life. A scientist and humanitarian to the end, he took careful notes on his own deterioration in the hopes it would help scientists better understand the disease and treat others.

There is an extensive website on Wallace's life and accomplishments maintained by the Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural & Environmental Policy.

Born: Orient, Iowa on 7 Oct 1888
Died: Danbury Connecticutt, 18 Nov 1965