American teacher, botanist and entomologist based for many years at the Southern Illinois Normal College. George French was born in Onondaga County, New York and he attended the public schools in the area. After graduating from the Cortland Normal School he began to teach in the county schools of New York. Moving to Illinois he continued to teach at public schools, first in Belvidere and then (following a year spent in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin) in Roscoe, IL.

In 1868 French took up a position at the Illinois Agricultural College in Irvington and, although he had displayed an interest in natural history long before this, it was here that he studied botany and entomology and was awarded honorary BSc and MSc degrees. In 1877 he settled in Carbondale, first as assistant state entomologist under Cyrus Thomas of the Southern Illinois Normal College, and the following year as zoology, botany and physiology teacher at this college. When Thomas left the college in 1879, French was named professor of natural science.

French's contributions to science include the discovery of a new species of shooting star (Primulaceae) which was named Dodecatheon frenchii after its him by George Vasey. He also made two important medical discoveries, one was a treatment for epilepsy, and the other a bacterial remedy for Bright's disease. The author of numerous scientific articles French was also responsible for producing a manual on butterflies and one on mushrooms. When, in 1883, the Southern Illinois Normal College's museum was destroyed in a fire, he set about establishing a new one based largely on his own collection and it was soon more impressive than the original. French was a fellow of many scientific associations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Philadelphia Academy of Science. Married to Harriet Bingham in 1872, he moved from Carbondale to Herrin, Illinois, when she died in 1919.

Sources:
G.W. Smith, 1912, A History of Southern Illinois: A narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests:
http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/jackson/bios/french2781nbs.txt, accessed 12 April 2011
George Hazen French (1841-1934), Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois Normal College:
http://www.science.siu.edu/zoology/french/index.html, accessed 12 April 2011.