Dr George Seidel Jr honored by the International Embryo Technology Society

The International Embryo Technology Society (IETS) board of governors voted unanimously to rename the keynote address at their annual conference the “George E. Seidel Jr Keynote Lecture”. This act is a tribute to Dr George Seidel Jr, who made numerous highly regarded scientific contributions in the field of reproductive physiology and died in September of 2021. Dr Seidel, along with his wife, Dr Sarah Seidel, were key in the establishment of the IETS. Dr George Seidel received its highest honor, the Pioneer Award, as well as the Distinguished Service Award.

The keynote lecture is given by a prestigious speaker who is very notable and significant in the field. It is the final lecture of the IETS annual conference and is one of the most important and well attended sessions of the meeting. It is fitting, then, that this lecture be named after Dr Seidel.

Seidel grew up on a dairy farm in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, and attended a one room school. He went on to receive his BS from Penn State University and his MS and PhD from Cornell University in 1968 and 1970, respectively, studying reproductive physiology in cattle. He completed is post-doc at Harvard Medical School before accepting a faculty position at Colorado State University (CSU). There, he established himself as a cattle rancher and a highly respected scientist. In 1993 he was named University Distinguished Professor, and while at CSU, he took sabbaticals at Yale University and the Whitehead Institute at MIT.

Dr Seidel received numerous awards for his notable career, including being elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. His research and contributions to the field included work with bull semen, in vitro embryo production, embryo transfer in cattle, and development of methods for sexing semen. Dr Seidel established the CSU Bovine Embryo Transfer Laboratory, where much of the early research on superovulation, nonsurgical embryo transfer, and embryo freezing was conducted. He also created a company called XY Inc. and conducted research that resulted in many patents, the royalties of which he gave to CSU to support students and research.

The IETS is honored to attach his name to their keynote lecture in recognition of his dedication to the Society and significant contributions to science.