Technical Abstract: This manuscript summarizes the research career of Dr. Maxine M. Thompson, world renown horticulturist, plant breeder, and plant explorer. She became the first women professor at the Oregon State University, Deparment of Horticulture. She studied Rubus cytology and genetics and floral development in hazelnuts. She made crosses that resulted in the release of 8 hazelnuts. She lead or participated in 8 USDA sponsored plant collecting expeditions and obtained 645 seedlots and plants to the US National Plant Germplasm System. She received the Crop Science Society's Frank M. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources in 1997 and the American Pomological Society's Wilder Medal in 2000. Dr. Thompson is now breeding, evaluating, and selecting blue honeysuckle, Lonicera caerulea L., as a new fruit crop for the Willamette Valley in Oregon.