LEXINGTON, KY (May 13th, 2013) - Dr. Paul L. Cornelius, 76, husband of Barbara Jones Cornelius, passed away peacefully on May 11, 2013 in Lexington, KY from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease. Born in Davenport Iowa, he was the son of the late Alice Wilcox Cornelius and Gilbert Cornelius. Paul and his brother Jerry grew on the family farm near Bellevue, Iowa. At Iowa State University, Paul received a BS in Agronomy in 1958 and an MS in Crop Breeding in 1959. He was a partner in his family's Cornelius Seed Corn Company from 1960 to 1969 where he conducted applied research in corn breeding, seed corn production, and processing. In 1972 he received a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics with a minor in Biometry at the University of Illinois. Later that year he joined the University of Kentucky faculty in Statistics and Agronomy where he conducted extensive research on multiplicative models for genotype x environment interaction. He directed 7 PhD and 1 MS students, served on 39 graduate committees, performed statistical consulting for hundreds of additional student and faculty, and taught courses in Genetics, Basic Statistics, Statistical Genetics, Multiple Regression and Correlation, and Design and Analysis of Experiments I and II. He published 106 refereed journal articles and 8 book chapters and became a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1993 and of the Crop Science Society of America 1994. Paul took great satisfaction in helping and teaching others. Plant breeding was a passion for Paul. During his career in Kentucky he remained active as a part-time consultant with Cornelius Seed overseeing a successful corn breeding nursery until he retired in 2009. He was the father of beloved children Daniel (deceased) and Sarah (Richard) Burger of Nashville, TN. He is survived by his beloved wife, daughter and granddaughter Sidney Burger and sister-in-law, Wanda Cornelius of Bellevue, IA. He was a faithful member of Tates Creek Christian Church.

Here is a link to his obituary as it appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader.