Conversations from the Hall of Fame

Wayne W. Hanna,  plant geneticist, interviewed 2006

(Time: ~10:20 minutes)

I was a supervisory research geneticist at Tifton, Georgia in the Crop Genetics and Breeding Unit. I had 33 years with the Agricultural Research Service and then I had about 36 ½ years total because I worked part time with the Soil Conservation Service what used to be called Soil Conservation Service. 

I grew up in Flatonia, Texas. It's a little town right on Interstate 10 right between San Antonio and Houston on a diversified agricultural farm and was real active in FFA. If it wasn't for my Ag teacher I wouldn't have gone to college. He took me to college. Got me enrolled at Texas A&M and on the way there he said, "Wayne, what are you going to major in?" And I said, "Mister Kinder, what do you mean by that?" He says, "When you go to college you got to specialize in some area." I said, "What did you major in?" He said, "Ag Ed, agricultural education." I said, "Well that's what I'm going to major in" because I respected him so much. So that's how I got to college. 

My interest in science came about, about a semester before I graduated with my bachelor's degree. I received a letter. I was going to go out to student teach in south Texas in a high school. I received a letter from Dr. Keith Schertz who is a sorghum geneticist, ARS, working in the Crop Soil Science Department at Texas A&M. And, he said, "You've been recommended to work on a master's degree in plant breeding."

And I never even thought about a master's degree or plant breeding before that and so I talked to my advisor in Ag Ed, he said let me do a little checking. He said "Well you know if you get a master's in plant breeding you probably have to go on and work on a PhD." So I said OK you know well maybe I'll just do that. 

So the first summer that I was out in the field, made a big discovery published in "Science" before I even had a master's degree and of course it was exciting, genetics was exciting. You could kind of predict what you were going to get but you never was for sure exactly what you were going to get. So every day was exciting and so that's how it kind of how it peaked. I had a wonderful major professor, Dr. Keith Schertz, who really gave me responsibility and taught me the scientific process, how to follow the scientific process. And that's how I kinda got started. 

I finished the master's, got married and on our honeymoon I had an offer to go Colorado State and work on a PhD in biochemistry of flower color in carnations. So I went by there and interviewed. It would have been an exciting area but Texas A&M also offered me work on a PhD so I decided to stay at Texas A&M. 

And I finished my PHD. While I was working on my PhD I worked in kind of in cytogenetics. It was more of the chromosome gene manipulation, cell manipulation and I knew Gerald Powell who was in a position, in a cytogenetics position at Tifton, Georgia with ARS. To me it was a perfect position in the world to be at. But when I graduated I didn't even apply because I didn't think Gerald would ever leave and that wasn't an open position at Tifton. 
 
And so I took a job at Florida. About five months later, one Monday night I get a call and they said,  "Gerald decided to go to Washington. Do you want to come to Tifton?" And I said. "Let me think about it but the answer is yes." So that's how it came about and so I wound up having the job that I'd dreamed about and I never had to apply for it. 

On Being Inducted into the Hall of Fame

The reason that I'm probably here is my daddy always told me to give your employer more than they expect and I've tried to do that as a tax-payer employee. I try to give the tax payer and the customer out there more then they ... first of all meet their, what they need but give them more then they really expected and we were blessed and been able to identify important problems, listen to the customer and we were able to develop not only the cultivars, forage and turf cultivars, that had been very successful but we also we have developed the research information on how to grow them effectively and efficiently and things like that and customers still call us today and so we've given the tax payer and the customer their money's worth in helping them to solve problems and make money and so I think that's the reason.

Rewards of the Research 

To know that we have developed grasses that people really, that have been popular, and that people really appreciate. It's helped them solve a lot of their problems. For instance, last week before the Notre Dame /Georgia Tech game went on the field. They wanted me to come look at the field and it just poured on it mowing it twice a day three eighths of an inch they were proud of that field. Even after that game that night although Georgia Tech didn't win. It was a close game but the field looked just about as good after the players got off of it and when they got on it. And you know that makes you feel good that what you've done is making a difference out there. 

I receive calls every week from farmers all across the South. And there's one on our answering machine right now from Brazil. And you know wanting to know, first of all he said, "Tifton 85 is a great cultivar thank you for recommending it. We hear there is a new one coming out. We want to know whether we can it get soon and use it." So I'm proud of that the things we did, we've done are making a difference out there in the real world.

Advice to Young Scientists

The advice that I would give for young scientists is to, one is to follow the scientific process and I'm not going to go through it but it begins with identifying the important problems that need to be solved out there and then once you have identified those problems, that really each one of us as an ARS employee is paid and hired to do, then plan that research and work the plan and not only do the research but take it to the very end of the scientific process to where it is being used by the customer. Really being used by the customer and that type of effort it's more than an 8-5 job, it's more than an 8 hour a day job. To really make it all happen it's more than 8 hours and I think even before that advice what I would give make sure you are in an area that you love working in. If you don't like the area present find you that you do. Find an area that you love working in. 

Science After ARS

I'm working part time at the University of Georgia and we have had a wonderful relationship 
even when I was with ARS with the University of Georgia a team cooperative effort between the two and our success has been because of the team with the University of Georgia and since I retired I'm working with them part time sometimes 12-15 hours a day but there are other days I play 12-15 hours a day with the grandkids. So I have time but when I'm working, I'm working and we are doing some things that I dreamed about doing that really wasn't part of my mission or responsibility when I was with ARS.

I'm working on a pine tree without pine cones and pollen. I'm working on winter hardy citrus that will grow in middle Georgia but to make it we have the citrus but to make them seedless. Working on some ornamental grasses and making them seedless so they don't produce seeds they don't have any noxious or weed potential problems and so but yeah I still like to fish some time I don't do as much of it as I should but this work that I'm doing is like a hobby. It's fun. I enjoy getting up every morning and going out and working with it. 

Working with ARS 

Time with the agency has been 100 percent positive. I worked with the agency during the time that I felt was just a wonderful time of the whole history of the agency and had the freedom to use imagination. My philosophy is when you are hiring people, even when I hired people was, hire good people and let them do their job and that's the way ARS treated me. They hired me, hopefully I was pretty good, and they let me do my job and because we were productive nobody complained and so you know just find something that you really enjoy doing and then identify the right problems and then claim the research and work the plan.