Elwin Orton
US plant biologist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elwin Orton (January 8, 1930 - September 4, 2025)[1] was a plant biologist known for his contributions in plant breeding techniques.[2] He was known for saving the U.S. Dogwood plant through introduction of new pet-resistant hybrids,[3] for which some were consequently named after him.[4][5] His plant breeding work and conservation was recently recognized in the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame.[6] Orton was a Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, where he taught plant biology.[7] Orton held 15 patents in dogwood and holly plant hybrid development.[2]
Education
Orton held a B.A. in horticulture from Penn State (1952), an M.A. in horticulture from Ohio State (1954), and a Ph.D. in plant genetics from the University of Wisconsin (1960).[8]
