George Eugene Ball (25 September 1926 – 12 January 2019) was an American entomologist and expert in

ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal f ...

s (Carabidae). Born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, where he served in the Battle of Okinawa. He earned his B.A. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1949 and his M.S. from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

in 1950. He returned to Cornell where he earned his PhD in 1954, and that same year joined the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

, becoming a full professor in 1965. He went on to serve as the entomology department's chair (1974–84) before retiring in 1992. He was a past president of the

Entomological Society of Canada The Entomological Society of Canada or Société d’Entomologie du Canada is one of Canada's most historic scientific societies. The society was founded in Toronto on April 16, 1863. The first Council was composed of President Henry Holmes Crof ...

and The Coleopterists Society, received the 1980 Gold Medal from the Entomological Society of Canada for outstanding achievement in entomology, and was a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America. He produced over 130 scientific papers, edited five books, and supervised 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. '' Antarctotrechus balli'' is named after him.

References

External links

List of publications
1926 births 2019 deaths American entomologists Cornell University alumni University of Alberta faculty Coleopterists Scientists from Detroit Canadian entomologists United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II University of Alabama alumni American expatriates in Canada {{US-entomologist-stub