Edwin Bingham

I knew him as Ted before he started requesting we address him as Edwin. I learned a lot from him while I was a post doc in his lab. He was a great mentor who always expected high quality research. I model my Perspectives in Plant Breeding Strategies course after the cytogenetics class he and Stan Peloquin taught. His research on heterosis and polyploidy was ground breaking.

I worked as a lab tech in Dr Bingham's tissue culture lab as my first full time job after graduating at the UW Madison in 1972. At that time, he went by "Ted" and his students and post doc called him "The Doc." I enjoyed working for him, and he always had time for my questions, or just to chat. My BS was in Zoology, and I hadn't given much thought to plants. But working with Dr. Bingham brought me around, and I wound up returning to UW to get a horticulture degree and spent the rest of my working life with plants. So, he had a great influence on my life, and I am always thankful for the couple of years I spent working for him.