William F. Tracy (Bill)is a professor in the department of plant and agroecosystem sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a sweet corn breeder and studies the genetics, biochemistry and physiology of sweet corn quality and productivity. He received a B.S. and M.S. in plant and soil science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Biometry from Cornell University. In 1984, after brief stints in industry at the International Plant Research Institute and Cargill Inc., Bill joined the department of agronomy at UW-Madison as an assistant professor. He served as department chair for 14 years and as interim dean of the college for 14 months. Bill and his team have developed sweet corn inbreds that are used on every continent where sweet corn is grown and OP varieties that are in commerce. Bill Has mentored over 50 graduate students many of whom joined the seed industry. In 2014, Bill received the Genetics and Plant Breeding Award from the National Association of Commercial Plant Breeders and in in 2017, was named the Clif Bar and Organic Valley Chair in Breeding for Organic Systems. In 2018 he was elected fellow of the Crop Science Society of America and in 2020 a Fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2023 he received the Spitze Land Grant Faculty Award for Excellence.