Yield and protein concentration in soybean are generally negatively correlated.  The objective of our research is to assess the effectiveness of selecting for high protein among F₂ plants from crosses between high-yielding and high protein parents followed by selection for high-yielding inbred lines to combine high yield and high protein.  From 9 high protein F₂ families selected for either high or low yield, 270 F₄ lines were evaluated in 2004. To evaluate yield differences within and among F₂ families, five high- and five low-yielding F₄ lines were selected from each family. These lines were evaluated at three locations in Illinois in 2005 and 2006. Our initial results show that selecting for high protein among F₂ plants is highly effective. The 90 F₄ lines averaged 67 g kg^-1 higher in protein concentration than the cultivar Dwight and some lines were higher than 100 g kg^-1 .  Selection for yield in the F₃ generation was not effective.  No differences were found among the mean yields of the F₄ lines for 7 of the 9 families. However, there was significant variation for yield within all 9 families with a mean difference of 249 kg ha^-1 between the high- and low-yielding selections. There was less variation for protein concentration but with significant differences for protein between the high- and low-yielding lines for 6 families and a mean difference of 10 mg g^-1. The highest-yielding line was significantly lower-yielding than Dwight by 504 kg ha^-1 but was significantly higher in protein by 51 g kg^-1 and had a total protein production ha^-1 comparable to Dwight.  Nineteen F₄ lines were comparable to Dwight in total protein ha^-1. Selecting for high protein in very early generations followed by selection for yield may be an effective strategy for combining both high yield and high protein concentration.