George Ware,

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

(1924–2010) was an American dendrologist and former research director of the

Morton Arboretum The Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, United States, is a public garden, and outdoor museum with a library, herbarium, and program in tree research including the Center for Tree Science. Its grounds, covering 1,700 acres (6.9 square kilometres ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

who specialized in the evaluation of Asiatic species of elm as urban trees.''Chicago Suburban Daily Herald'', 7 July 2010. Obituary - Dr. George Ware.

Early life and education

Born 27 April 1924 in Avery, Oklahoma, the son of Charles & Mildred Ware, he was raised in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

, receiving BS and MS degrees from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, and a PhD in Forest Ecology from the

University of Wisconsin - Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

Career

Ware taught

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

dendrology Dendrology ( grc, δένδρον, ''dendron'', "tree"; and grc, -λογία, ''-logia'', ''science of'' or ''study of'') or xylology ( grc, ξύλον, ''ksulon'', "wood") is the science and study of woody plants (trees, shrubs, and lianas), ...

and conservation at universities in Oklahoma and Louisiana, before joining the Morton Arboretum in 1968 as Dendrologist, becoming Research Director ten years later, a post he held until his retirement in 1995. During his career at the Morton he raised hybrid elms, maples, planes, poplars and mulberries. He also traveled extensively, making a total of five expeditions to China, and three to the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Ware remained a Research Associate of the Morton Arboretum until 2009.

Elm research

Ware soon realized the potential of disease-resistant Asiatic elms as urban trees, leading a party of Morton botanists and horticulturists to northern China in 1990, followed by participation in the USDA-sponsored expedition to China in 1995. Through contacts established with the Chinese, Ware was to receive regular consignments of elm seed from 1990, which greatly enhanced the Morton Arboretum's elm collection.Ware, G. (1995). Little-known elms from China: landscape tree possibilities. ''Journal of Arboriculture'', (Nov. 1995). International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, Illinois, US

Personal life

Ware married, in 1955, June (née Gleason) (d. 2010), who bore him four sons.

Death

George Ware died of complications arising from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago on 4 July 2010.''Chicago Tribune'', 07/08/2010, George Ware, former director of research at Morton Arboretum, dies

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Eponymy

The hybrid (biology), hybrid oak ''Quercus'' × ''warei'' ( ''Quercus robur'' f. ''fastigiata'' × ''Quercus bicolor''), commonly known as the 'Long Oak', was named for him.

Honors and awards

* Gold Seal Award of the National Council of State Gardens (1994) * American Foresters' Urban Forestry Research Awards (1997) * Hutchinson Medal, Chicago Botanic Garden (1997) * Norman J Colman Award, American Nursery and Landscape Association (1996) * Award of Merit, Illinois Arborist Association (1996) * Award of Merit, American Public Gardens Association (2001) * Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, American Horticultural Association (2002) * Conservation leadership Award, Openlands Association (2005) * L C Chadwick Award for Arboricultural Research, International Society for Arboriculture (2008)

Selected publications

* Ware, G. (1992). Elm breeding and improvement at the Morton Arboretum. ''Morton Arboretum Quarterly'', 28(1): 1-5, 1992. * Ware, G. (1995). Little-known elms from China: landscape tree possibilities. ''Journal of Arboriculture'', (Nov. 1995). International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, Illinois, US

* Shirazi, A. M. & Ware, G. H. (2004). ''Evaluation of New Elms from China for Cold Hardiness in Northern Latitudes''. International Symposium on Asian Plant Diversity & Systematics 2004,

Sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

, Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, George 1924 births 2010 deaths American botanists People from Erie County, Ohio People from Norman, Oklahoma University of Oklahoma alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni