Barber, Horace Newton (1914 - 1971)

Summary

Horace Barber was Professor of Botany, University of New South Wales from 1964 and Head of the School of Biological Sciences from 1966. Earlier he was Professor of Botany, University of Tasmania 1947-1963 and a lecturer at the University of Sydney 1946-1947. His research interests were in cytology and genetics. He made especially important contributions to the studies of plant cytogenetics and extended the knowledge of chromosome behaviour. Whilst in Tasmania he had a keen interest in eucalypts and was the first to investigate the species which was subsequently named in his honour: E. barberi L. Johnson & D. Blaxell (1972)

Details

Born Warburton, Cheshire, 26 May 1914. Died Sydney, 16 April 1971. Educated Cambridge (BA 1936; MA 1944; ScD 1963) and London University (PhD 1942). Research Cytologist, John Innes Horticultural Institute, London 1936-40, Scientific Officer, Telecommunications Research Establishment, Ministry of Aircraft Production 1941-45, Flight Lieutenant RAFVR (Hon) with service in Mediterranean and Southeast Asia Commands 1943-45, Lecturer in Botany, University of Sydney 1946-47, Professor of Botany, University of Tasmania 1947-63, Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Tasmania 1951-53, Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, California Institute of Technology 1953-54, Foundation Professor of Botany, University of New South Wales, 1964-71 and Head of the School of Biological Sciences 1966-71. Chairman, Professorial Board, University of Tasmania 1956-59, Royal Society Visiting Professor, University of Ibadan, Nigeria 1967. Fellow, Australian Academy of Science 1958, Fellow, Royal Society 1963.

Chronology

1936

Education - Bachelor of Arts in Botany (BA), University of Cambridge, UK

1936 - 1940

Career position - Research Cytologist, John Innes Horticultural Institute, London

1941 - 1945

Career position - Scientific Officer, Telecommunications Research Establishment of the Ministry of Aircraft Production in England

1942

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), London University

1943 - 1945

Career position - Flight Lieutenant RAFVR (Hon)

1944

Education - Master of Arts (MA), Cambridge University

1946 - 1947

Career position - Lecturer in Botany, University of Sydney

1947 - 1963

Career position - Professor of Botany, University of Tasmania

1951 - 1953

Career position - Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Tasmania

1953 - 1954

Career position - Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, California Institute of Technology

1956 - 1959

Career position - Chairman, Professorial Board of the University of Tasmania

1958

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1963

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1963

Education - Doctor of Science (ScD), University of Cambridge

1964 - 1971

Career position - Foundation Professor of Botany, University of New South Wales

1967

Career position - Royal Society Visiting Professor, University of Ibadan in Nigeria

1972

Taxonomy event - Honoured with Eucalyptus barberi L.Johnson & D.Blaxell

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Horace Newton Barber - Records, 1926 - 1974, ML MSS 3907; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Smith, Ailie; Moje, Christine; Rigby, Rebecca, The Study of Australian Eucalypts, eScholarship Research Centre, 2013, http://www.eoas.info/eucalypts/index.html. Details

Book Sections

• Anderson, Derek, 'Barber, Horace Newton (1914-1971), botanist and geneticist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 106-107. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130128b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Darlington, Cyril Dean, 'Horace Newton Barber, 1914 - 1971', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 18 (1972), 21-33. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1972.0002. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21165067. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94873147. Details
• 'Horace Barber - Citation at year of election, 1958', Fellows of the Academy, Australian Academy of Science, 2019, https://www.science.org.au/profile/horace-barber. Details
• 'Barber, H N (1914-1971)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-635960. Details

See also

• Hall, Norman, Botanists of the Eucalypts: short biographies of people who have named eucalypts, whose names have been given to species or who have collected type material (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1978), 101 pp. Details