Gerald Jung

Gerald (Jerry) Jung passed away on January 30, 2022 at the age of 92. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 16, 1930, he was the son of Alvin and Dorothy Jung. He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Margaret (Meg) Jung.

Dr. Jung studied at the University of Wisconsin, earning a B.S., and M.S., and a PhD. From 1954-1956, he worked in the US Army Biological Warfare Laboratories at Fort Detrick, Maryland. An accomplished musician, Jung played the piano accordion and taught the instrument to 50 children.

Dr. Jung's career began at West Virginia University, where he rose to the rank of professor in 1967. In 1970, he joined the Agriculture Research Service (ARS), the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). He served as research leader and technical advisor for the ARS until his retirement in 1995. During this time, Dr. Jung was also appointed adjunct professor of agronomy at Penn State University.

Early on, Dr. Jung recognized that pasture productivity must be analyzed in the context of animal production. He worked with Dr. R. I. Reid, a noted animal nutritionist at West Virginia University, to characterize dry matter intake, digestible energy, fiber, protein, and mineral element concentrations of herbage of many forage species at different physiological stages of maturity fed as hay or pasture to cattle and sheep (1960-1995).

He also defined the environmental factors limiting grass production-particularly on marginal lands-and developed management and species selection strategies to circumvent them. He was the first person to propose and develop brassica pasture systems to extend the grazing season and did much of the pioneering work that introduced and made possible the use of New Zealand Puna chicory and Matura prairie grass in U.S. pasture systems.

At West Virginia University, he concentrated on farage crops with an emphasis on alfalfa and the elevation of farms from 200 feet to 4,000 feet. He also initiated National Science Foundation-funded research regarding the chemistry of plant cold tolerance. He showed that, by applying purines and pyridines to leaves of non-hardy cultivators in September, one could increase winter survival rates from 5% to 75%. He also conducted eletrophoretic studies of enzyme activity, solubility, and resistance to denaturation during development of plant cold tolerance.

At Penn State, he researched which forage crops could lengthen the grazing season, traveling to many countries to obtain forage species. In addition, he teameds up with the U.S. Soil and Conservation Society in evaluating perennial warm-season grasses, determining which grass selections were best for farmers. The team's best research findings were showcased each year at Penn State's Agriculture Progress Days.

University student exchanges were arranged by Dr. Jung and the faculty of Queen's University at Belfast, Northern Ireland. Subsequently, Penn State and Queen's SUniversity have undertaken formal exchanges that include credit for course work.

Dr. Jung assisted Dr. Reid in organizing and funding the International Hill Lands Symposium in Morgantown, West Virginia in 1976. The meeting culminated in a tour through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, and the publication of a 770-page Book of Proceedings.

He was one of three scientists to receive Rockefeller Foundation funding for the Allegheny Highlands Project, which tested a new multidisciplinary extension approach disseminating technology to West Virginia farmers in mountainous areas of the state (1970-1980).

Technology development and transfer programs to farmers and extension personnel brought both national and international recognition. Dr. Jung contributed enormously to farmers and other user groups as a consultant, writer, speaker, and teacher. In conjunction with researchers and graduate students in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, with numerous Penn State students, and with students from Queen's University, Dr. Jung wrote 150 scientific papers.

Dr. Jung was a member of Alpha Zeta, Phi Sigma, Sigma Xi, the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, the Cryobiology Society, the Pennsylvania Grassland Council, the American Society of Agronomy, the Low Country Cattlemen's Association, and the South Carolina Cattlemen's Association.

Dr. Jung was elected to the West Virginia University Senate and received the College of Agriculture's Outstanding Teacher Award in 1970. He was also elected president of the Northeastern Regional Branch of the American Society of Agronomy, and subsequently received the Career Service Award in 1995. Dr. Jung was one of only two U.S. members at the Presidium of International Grassland Congress, held in Moscow in 1974. He was named a Distinguished Professor at Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland; received the Merit Award from the American Forage and Grassland Council in 1976; and was designated the Distinguished Grasslander in 2000. Dr. Jung received the first-ever Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Research Award in 1987, Outstanding Performance Awards from USDA-ARS in 1992 and 1993, and the South Carolina Cattlemen's Association Industry Service Award in 2001.

In 1999, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Agricultural Research Service honored Dr. Jung and a colleague for their pioneer testing of native grasses for forage resources worthy of use by eastern farmers. His work received recognition from eight U.S. Senators in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1993) and from the Irish government (1994).

Dr. Jung is survived by his sister, Sandra Klug of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and was predeceased by a brother, Russell G. Jung.