Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby

Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby FRS ( born August 24, 1904 in Leytonstone, † 22 October 1992 in Cambridge ) was a British botanist. He was considered an excellent scientist who devoted himself to the problems of academic education, awareness about pollution and the relationship between science and society.

Early years

Eric Ashby was the oldest of three brothers; his father was an excellent amateur naturalist. First he was interested in chemistry and mathematics, but then decided to study botany. Ashby graduated from the City of London School and the Royal College of Science, where in 1926 he made an excellent Bachelor of Science and Forbes Medal and Prize was awarded. One focus of his studies was on the water lens by exploring the factors for their growth. From 1926 to 1929 he worked as an assistant at Imperial College. In 1929 he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship at the University of Chicago and explored where the cultivation of maize plants.

Career as a scientist

From 1931 to 1935 Ashby lecturer at Imperial College and from 1935 to 1938 at the University of Bristol. Together with Henrik Lundegardh 1938 he published a German-English dictionary Botany. From 1938 to 1946 Ashby was a professor of botany at the University of Sydney and distinguished himself there as one of the leading scientists in Australia. He was from 1940 to 1942 Chairman of the Australian National Research Council and conducted in 1942 for the Australian Prime Minister an investigation of scientific resources in wartime through. Between 1944 and 1945 he worked as a research consultant in Moscow for the Australian government.

In 1946, Eric Ashby back to the UK. From 1947 to 1950 he held the Harrison Department of Botany at the University of Manchester held: "His enthusiasm and flair for botany made ​​Manchester one of the leading botanical schools in the United Kingdom. " (Eng. " His enthusiasm and his sense of Botany made ​​from Manchester one of the leading botanical schools in the UK. " ) he was an author of an article on hybrid mixed forms for Pengiun Book New Biology in and the wider community was known for his book Scientist in Russia, where he his experiences in Moscow described, where he had also learned Russian.

In academic administration

From 1950 to 1959 Ashby President and Vice - Chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, because he represented the interests of the public university. Since he was a good speaker, a dexterous member of the University Senate, as well as a talented mediator, he soon became popular in Northern Ireland. Soon, he devoted himself more universities and educational issues as its actual science.

From 1959 to 1975 he was at the University of Cambridge Master of Clare College and Vice - Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1967 until 1969. Moreover, he was a member of Education Commission of Nigeria. From 1968 to 1974 he was Chairman of the Governors of Culford School and 1970-1973 Chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. In 1972 he was a member of a working group at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Stockholm. 1973 President and Chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast was. 1956 Eric Ashby was knighted and raised 1973 Life peer as Baron Ashby, of Brandon in the County of Suffolk.

From 1935 to 1938 Ashby Secretary of the Society for Experimental Biology and 1962-1963 President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1961 he was elected a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was an advisor to the British National Fruit Traders Association, a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS ) and received a Centenary Medal of the Royal Society of Tasmania. He had honorary doctorates from 20 universities and has published numerous books.

Family

Eric Ashby was married in 1931 to Elizabeth Margaret Helen Farries, whom he had met at a cooperation on combustion techniques for the measurement of carbon in tissue. The couple had two children.

Publications (selection )

  • As a scientist in Russia ( 1949)
  • Technology and the Academics (1958 )
  • African Universities and Western Tradition ( 1964)
  • Masters and Scholars (1970 )
  • Reconciling Man with the Environment ( 1978)
  • With Mary Anderson: The Politics of Clean Air (1981).
  • With Mary Anderson: British, Indian, African ( 1966)
  • The Rise of the Student Estate ( 1970)
  • Portrait of Haldane (1974 )
October 22 Docent Penguin Books Clare College, Cambridge Integrated Authority File
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