Catcheside, David Guthrie (1907 - 1994)

Summary

David Catcheside was a geneticist who made significant contributions in plant genetics and cytology, genetic effects of radiation, and the mechanisms of genetic recombination, Much of his research focused on the plants Oenothera and Zea and the insect Drosophila, later extending to the fungal genus Neurospora. After a distinguished career at the University of Cambridge, Catcheside was appointed in 1952 as the foundation Professor of Genetics at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute in Adelaide, where he established Australia's first university department of genetics. He returned to the United Kingdom to become Professor of Microbiology at the University of Birmingham. Here his main intention was to form a research group working in the new field of molecular biology. In 1966, after three years at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Catcheside became the foundation Director of the Research School of Biological Sciences at the Australian National University. In each of these roles he sought to lead research groups which encompassed a variety of specialities working in collaboration. Many of his graduate students went on to careers at senior levels in universities and CSIRO. In retirement Catcheside turned to his long-standing interest in mosses. He bequeathed his bryological collections, with microscope slides, to the State Herbarium of South Australia. The Genetics Society of Australia awards the D. G. Catcheside Prize to recognize the achievements of the top Australasian doctoral student in the field of genetics.

Details

Chronology

1928

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), King's College, University of London

1931 - 1933

Career position - Assistant lecturer, Kings College, University of London

1931 - 1994

Award - Fellow, Linnean Society, London

1933 - 1936

Career position - Lecturer, Kings College, University of London

1935 - 1941

Career position - Secretary, Genetical Society, United Kingdom

1936

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of London

1936 - 1937

Career position - Rockefeller International Fellow, Biology Division, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.

1937 - 1950

Career position - Lecturer in Cytogenetics, University of Cambridge

1944 - 1951

Career position - Fellow and lecturer, Trinity College Cambridge

1950 - 1951

Career position - Reader in Cytogenetics, University of Cambridge

1951 - 1994

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

1952 - 1955

Career position - Professor of Genetics, Waite Agricultural Research Institute

1953 - 1994

Award - Petitioner for the Academy, Founding Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1956 - 1964

Career position - Professor of Microbiology, University of Birmingham

1958

Career position - President, British Lichen Society

1958 - 1959

Career position - Member of the Executive, British Bryological Society

1959

Award - Elected Fellow, King's College, University of London

1959 - 1961

Career position - Member of Council, The Royal Society, London

1961 - 1964

Career position - President, Genetical Society, United Kingdom

1964 - 1966

Career position - Professor of Genetics, John Curtin School of Medical Research

1966 - 1969

Career position - Vice-President, Australian Academy of Science

1966 - 1972

Career position - Director, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

1972 -

Career position - Emeritus Professor, Australian National University

1972

Life event - Retired

1972 - 1975

Career position - Visiting Fellow, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

1973

Career position - President, Botany Section, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1973 - 1974

Career position - President, Genetics Society of Australia

1976 -

Career position - Research Associate, Waite Agricultural Research Institute

1977 - 1994

Award - Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A.

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• David Guthrie Catcheside - Records, 1927 - 1975, MS 091; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Catcheside, D. G., Genetics of microorganisms (New York: London: Pitman, 1951), 223 pp. Details
• Catcheside, D. G., The genetics of recombination (London: Edward Arnold, 1977), 172 pp. Details
• Catcheside, D. G., Mosses of South Australia (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1980), 364 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Smyth, David R., 'Catcheside, David Guthrie (1907-1994), geneticist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 143-144, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/catcheside-david-guthrie-27834. Details

Journal Articles

• Catcheside, D. G., 'Genetic effects of radiations', Advances in genetics, 2 (1948), 271-358. Details
• Fincham, J. R. S.; and John, B., 'David Guthrie Catcheside 1907-1994', Historical Records of Australian Science, 10 (4) (1995), 393-407. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9951040393. Details
• Fincham, John Robert Stanley; and John, B, 'David Guthrie Catcheside, 31 May 1907 - 1 June 1994', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 41 (1995), 119-34, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1995.0008. Details
• Stone, Ilma G.; Bell, Graham; and Scott, George A. M., 'Recollections and a tribute to Professor David Guthrie Catcheside, 31 May 1907 - 1 June 1994', Australasian bryological newsletter, 31 (1994), 7-11. https://www.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/766459/ABN_31.pdf. Details
• Stoneburger, Ann; Wyatt, Robert; Catcheside, David G.; and Stone, Ilma G., 'Census of the mosses of Western Australia', Bryologist, 96 (1) (1993), 86-101. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21165808. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/71977574. Details
• 'Catcheside, D G (19070531-19940602)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-565134. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Catcheside, David Guthrie - Ms 91', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms091.html. Details

See also

• McCann, D. A.; and Batterham, P., 'Australian Genetics: a Brief History', Genetica, 90 (2-3) (1993), 81-114. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01435033. Details