Alan Gerald Atherly was born November 19, 1936, to Harold James and Dorothy Barnard Atherly in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Atherly received his B.S. (1960) from Western Michigan University in chemistry and his Ph.D. (1964) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in biochemistry. He performed postdoctoral work at Western Reserve University and at the University of Oregon.

Atherly joined the faculty at Iowa State University in 1968 when he became an associate member of the Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry. He was soon named Assistant Professor (1968-1971) in the Department of Genetics and promoted to Associate Professor (1971-1976) and Professor (1976-2004). Atherly also served as Head (1980-1990) of the Department of Genetics. Upon his retirement in 2004, Atherly was named Professor Emeritus of the Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology.

While at Iowa State, Atherly received research grants and published numerous papers related to his studies in genetics. For his work on soybeans he was named a recipient of the Soybean Researcher’s Recognition Award (1984). He served as a consultant for scientific advisor to numerous private companies, including Allied Corp.; EniChem, Inc.; and Interlink, Inc. Atherly, along with colleagues Jack Girton and John McDonald, published an introductory textbook on genetics, The Science of Genetics (call no. QH430 A86 1999).

Alan Atherly married Mary Elizabeth Klitch of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Together they raised two children, Jill and Todd.