William Carson Paddock

PADDOCK--William Carson, a plant pathologist credited with writing extensively on world food issues and population, died on February 28, 2008 in Antigua, Guatemala. He was 86 and died from complications of a stroke. Born on September 23, 1921 in Minneapolis, MN, he was the third son of Sarah Lee and Paul Ezekiel Paddock of Marshaltown, IA. He was a graduate of The Loomis School (1938) in Connecticut, and Iowa State University (1943) at Ames, IA. He served in the US Marine Corps during WWII, for which he received the Purple Heart after being gravely wounded in Okinawa, Japan. After the war, he received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in Plant Pathology and Plant Breeding. Dr. Paddock was an Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University and a Professor at Iowa State University prior to moving his family to Antigua, Guatemala in 1952 to serve as the Director of the Iowa State College Guatemala Tropical Research Center, where he developed Tiquisate Golden Yellow Corn--a disease resistant corn high in vitamin A. In 1957, Dr. Paddock replaced Mr. Wilson Popenoe as Director of El Zamorano, the Pan American School of Agriculture in Honduras. During his tenure, El Zamorano became the first college in Agriculture in Latin America. Dr. Paddock returned to Washington, D.C. in 1962 where he was named Director of Latin American Affairs for the National Academy of Sciences under the Kennedy Administration. Dr. Paddock's first article on the world food crisis "Can We Make the World Feed Us All?" appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1952. With his extensive knowledge of tropical agriculture, world hunger, and populations issues he went on to write and co-author several books: "Hungry Nations." "Famine-1975," "We Don't Know How," and "Time of Famine." Dr. Paddock also worked as a private consultant in tropical agricultural development. Central to his research and writings was the belief that famine and population growth were intrinsically linked and that the Green Revolution need to also address overpopulation. "If you eliminate famine through an increase in food production and ignore overpopulation, you simply pass today's problems on to the next generation." Retired for many years but always active, Dr. Paddock was involved with and served on the boards of various organizations including the American Phytopathological Society, FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), ZPG (Zero Population Growth), and was a founding member of the Guatemala branch of "Democrats Abroad." Dr. Paddock is survived by his beloved wife and partner of 64 years, Elizabeth; his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, Paul, Anne, and Laura Lee Paddock of West Palm Beach, FL; his daughter, Ana Livingston Paddock of Santa Fe, NM, and his granddaughter, Lee Livingston Dolan of NYC. He was predeceased by his two brothers, Paul Ezekiel and Richard Lee. A memorial service will be held in Antigua, Guatemala in May and a private family service in Blue Mountain Lake, New York this summer. Letters of condolence may be sent to Elizabeth Paddock at PO Box 669004, A-308, Miami Springs, FL 33266.