George Wells Beadle was born on a farm near Wahoo, Nebraska, on 22 October 1903. He was the son of Chauncey Elmer and Hattie (Albro) Beadle. He received his B.S. (1926) and M.S. (1927) from the University of Nebraska. He earned a Ph.D. (1931) in cytogenetics and the origin of corn from Cornell University.

He worked in the Biology Division of the California Institute of Technology as a National Research Council Fellow and Instructor of Biology (1931-1936); he also pursued genetic and biochemical studies in Paris (1935). He was Assistant Professor of Biology (1936-1937) at Harvard University prior to being appointed Professor of Biology (Genetics) (1937-1946) at Stanford University. He then returned to California Institute of Technology where he was Professor and Chairman (1946-1961) of the Biology Division. He was appointed President (1961-1968) at the University of Chicago; in 1968 he retired as President Emeritus. On retirement, he resumed his early interest in the origin of corn.

Beadle received numerous awards and honors for his work.  For his work with Edward L. Tatum on the biochemistry of the genetics of the fungus Neurospora, Beadle was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine (1958), an award he shared with Tatum and with Tatum's student Joshua Lederberg. His other awards include the Lasker Award of the American Public Health Association (1950), the Dyer Award (1951), the Albert Einstein Commemorative Award in Science (1958), the National Award of the American Cancer Society (1959), and the Kimber Genetics Award of the National Academy of Sciences (1960), and the Thomas Hunt Morgan medal (1984). He was also given honorary doctorates from more than thirty universities.

Beadle married Marion Cecile Hill in 1928; they divorced in 1953. In 1953, he married Muriel Barnett with whom he collaborated on the book The Language of Life: An Introduction to the Science of Genetics. He had one son, David, from his first marriage, and a stepson, Redmond James Barnett.

This collection (1903-1982, undated) contains biographical information about George Beadle as well as materials relating to his research concerning teosinte and the origin of corn. The bulk of the collection consists of materials associated with a large-scale examination and collection of wild teosinte in Mexico (1971-1975). In addition to Beadle, the other project organizers were Walton G. Galinat and H. Garrison Wilkes, both of the University of Massachusetts. Included are the National Science Foundation proposal that funded the project, correspondence, research record books, and photographs.

Researchers interested in Beadle's career beyond his work on teosinte and the origin of corn should consult the following collections held in other repositories:

George Wells Beadle Papers, 1908-1984. Archives, California Institute of Technology (includes materials related to Beadle's life and work, particularly his work at Stanford University and California Institute of Technology)

George Wells Beadle Papers, 1908-1981, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library (primarily papers related to Beadle's tenure as President of the University of Chicago)

University of Chicago, Office of the President, Beadle Administration Records, 1916-1968, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library (administrative records from Beadle's tenure as President of the University of Chicago)

The collection is unarranged.