Leonard M. Pike

Leonard M. Pike (February 1, 1940 – January 12, 2019) was an American agricultural scientist who established the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University in 1992 and created the 1015 sweet onion and the BetaSweet maroon carrot.

Pike was born and raised in Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he received a master's degree in 1964. Three years later, he was granted a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Shortly after graduation, he joined the faculty at Texas A&M University. The onion became a staple in the blooming onions sold by Outback Steakhouse. The Outback restaurant in College Station, Texas hung a picture of Pike on the wall to thank him for his efforts.

In 1992, Pike founded the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M. He served as the director of the center until his retirement in 2006. The center focused on developing foods that are healthier for humans, not just prettier or stronger and often partnered with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas to determine which varieties had more cancer-fighting compounds. One of the results was the BetaSweet carrot, a maroon carrot (to match the Texas A&M school color) which has fifty percent more beta-carotene than a typical carrot.