professor, geneticist, b. Allegany, N.Y. He graduated from the Univ. of Michigan (A.B., 1901) and Harvard Univ. (Ph.D., 1906). He worked at the Rhode Island Experimental Station (1906-1907), and was instructor of zoology at Yale Univ. (1907-1910). In 1910 he came to the Univ. of Wisconsin as professor of experimental breeding, holding this position until 1918, and from 1918 until his retirement in 1947 was professor of genetics. As head of the new experimental breeding department, Cole inaugurated theoretical studies with the object of establishing broad scientific rules that could be applied to practical livestock breeding. In this respect he was instrumental in promoting the application of specialized, scientific principles to agriculture. Cole also made intensive genetic studies of pigeons and was an early advocate of the systematic banding of birds for the purpose of studying migratory habits. He was a member of the National Research Council (1925-1927), president of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters (1924-1927), and a member of many learned and scientific organizations. Univ. of Wis. Faculty Memorial, Document 842, Apr. 5, 1948 (on file in office of secretary of the faculty); Amer. Men of Sci. (1944); W. H. Glover, Farm and College (Madison, 1952); Madison Wis. State Journal, Feb. 18, 1948.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Leon J. Cole Papers for details.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]