1955
In 1917, Donald F. Jones invented the “double cross” method of hybrid seed production, a process which resulted in extremely high yield hybrids. By 1933 hybrid corn was in commercial production; by 1959 more than 95 percent of total U.S. corn acreage was in hybrid corn.
Working with Paul C. Mangelsdorf, Jones conducted pioneering work in development of cytoplasmic male sterility as a genetic method of hybrid corn production. Jones perfected a method of introducing fertility-restoring genes to the process, a step which finally eliminated the need for costly hand detasseling. The patent on this invention, which was assigned to Research Corporation for management, was the first patent on a genetic technique to be granted in the U.S.
In 1970, the Donald F. Jones Fund of Research Corporation was established. The first grant made by the program was in 1971 to the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council in partial support of a study of genetic susceptibility of major feed grain crops. The remainder of the fund offered graduate and postdoctoral fellowships for research in the cytogenetics of species of agricultural importance.