George J. Wallace was born in Vermont in 1906 and it was there that he began a life-long interest in ornithology. He attended the University of Michigan and received his B.S. in zoology in 1923 and his Ph.D. four years later. Following graduation, he spent a year with the Vermont Fish and Game Service. Next he worked as director of a bird and wildlife sanctuary in Massachusetts. In 1942 Wallace came to Michigan State University where he spent the next three decades as a member of the MSU faculty. During this period he was very active in the fight against the pesticide DDT. He discovered that robins on campus were being poisoned as a result of spraying DDT on campus and in East Lansing for Dutch Elm disease. His work in this area is directly linked to the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson that helped serve as a catalyst for environmental change. Wallace retired in 1972 and passed away in 1986.
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