Ball, George, Jr. (1951-) was born in the suburbs of Chicago in 1951.  He was the son of G. Carl Ball, who was one of four brothers that took over the Ball Seed Company in 1949 when their father died.  In 1963, George started harvesting petunia seed for his family's business, and he worked for the company in Illinois and Costa Rica during the summers when he was in high school and college.  In 1971, after studying at Bard College and DePaul University, he joined Ball Seed as an assistant grower.  He rose through the ranks and was appointed president of Pan American Seed in 1984.  In 1991, George acquired W. Atlee Burpee & Company and became the company's president. In 1998, he purchased Fordhook Farm in Doylestown, PA, the Burpee family home, which is now designated a National Historic Trust Landmark. George served as president of the American Horticultural Society from 1990 to 1993. He also participated in several international seed relief efforts, providing vegetable seeds to farmers in Rwanda and Iraq. Sources: http://www.burpee.com George Ball Jr. WARMINSTER, Pa.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 21 Mar 1993: E17.