Steve A. Eberhart

Steve A. Eberhart, 91, of Cary, NC passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 1, 2023 . He was born on November 11, 1931 in Keya Paha, S.D. to Merle and Josephine Eberhart. He grew up on a farm west of Bassett, NE. and graduated valedictorian from Rock County High School. He received a B.S. in General Agriculture, 1952, University of Nebraska (with High Distinction); M.S. in Plant Breeding, 1958, University of Nebraska, and a PhD in Genetics/Statistics, 1961, North Carolina State University. He also received an Honorary Doctor of Science, University of Nebraska, 1988. He married Laurel Hammond on July 19, 1953. He served 4 years as a pilot in the US Air Force. He worked for 15 years with the USDA Agriculture Research Service as a Research Geneticist in Raleigh, NC, Ames, IA, and Kitale, Kenya. While in Kenya, he and co-workers developed a comprehensive breeding system, published in 1967, to develop improved maize breeding populations and parental lines. He developed corn Hybrids for Eastern Africa that were used extensively for more than 20 years to reduce hunger. During this time he received Superior Service Awards and a certificate of Merit from the USDA. In 1970 he received the Arthur S. Fleming Award by the D.C. Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of the five Outstanding Young Scientists in Federal Government. He served as Vice President for Research with Funk Seeds, a CIBA-GEIGY company from 1975 to 1987. He directed and coordinated corn, sorghum, soybean, and sunflower breeding programs in the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, and Thailand. In 1987 he was named Director, National Seed Storage Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, CO., retiring in 2000. Steve was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Nebraska Department of Agronomy and Horticulture in 2019.

He was an active member of Crop Science Society of America, serving as President in 1990. Awards received from CSSA included: Fellow, 1985; Crop Science Research Award 1994; Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources, 1999; and the Crop Science Distinguished Career Award in 2003.

Other awards received were: Fellow, American Society of Agronomy, 1975; Fellow, American Assoc. for Advancement of Science, 1994; The National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders Genetics and Plant Breeding Award 1998.

During his career he published 82 scientific manuscripts. A paper on stability parameter models was one of the most widely cited publications in crop science and plant breeding journals. He was Associate Editor for Crop Science 1971-73 and was technical editor for Crop Registration 1999-2005. He was also Director of the Latin America Maize Project (LAMP) 1994 -2000.

He is survived by daughter, Lyndl Schuster (Paul Holzman) of Northbrook, IL; son, Paul (Lisa) Eberhart of Cary, NC; daughters, Sally (Roger Barth) of Dunnellon, FL; and Sue (Jeff) May of Yankton, SD; sister, Beryl Bair of Ft. Collins CO; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great grandchildren.

A visitation for the family will be held at Brown-Wynne Funeral home in Cary on Sunday, March 5th at 1:00, followed by a graveside service at Wake Memorial Park at 3:00. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to Transitions Hospice of Wake County or the charity of your choice.

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