Person

Osborn, Theodore George Bentley (1887 - 1973)

Born
2 October 1887
Great Clacton, Essex, England
Died
3 June 1973
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Occupation
Botanist and Ecologist

Summary

Theodore Osborn, after several years lecturing in economic botany at the Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom, was appointed in 1912 as Professor of Botany, Vegetable Pathology and Parasitology at the University of Adelaide. His principal task was to establish the Department: in this he was notably successful. For part on his time in Adelaide he was also Consulting Botanist and Vegetable Pathologist to the South Australian Department of Agriculture. In 1926 Osborn was asked by CSIRO to report on the state of botanical research in Australia and on potential plant problems. In 1928 he declined a proffered position in CSIR and instead accepted the Chair of Botany at the University of Sydney. Many of his students from both universities went on to influential careers in Australia. During his 25 years in Australia, Osborn undertook significant research on arid zone ecology and the coastal ecology of New South Wales. He was active in local scientific societies, serving as President of the Royal Society of South Australia and the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Osborn became Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford in 1937. On retiring in 1953 he returned to Australia.

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Details

Chronology

1908
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom
1909 - 1912
Career position - Lecturer in Economic Botany, Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom
1911
Education - Master of Science (MSc), Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom
1912 - 1928
Career Position - Professor of Botany, Vegetable Pathology and Parasitology, University of Adelaide
1915 - 1920
Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of South Australia
1919 - 1927
Career position - Member of the Board, Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island
1920
Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom
c. 1920 - c. 1926
Career position - Consulting Botanist and Vegetable Pathologist, South Australia Department Agriculture
1921 -
Career position - Foundation Councillor (Botany), Australian National Research Council
1922 - 1924
Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of South Australia
1925 - 1926
Career Position - President, Royal Society of South Australia
1928 - ?
Award - Fellow, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1928
Career position - President, Section M (Botany), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1928 - 1937
Career Position - Professor of Botany, University of Sydney
1930 - 1933
Career position - Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney
1931 - 1937
Career position - Fellow of the Senate, University of Sydney
1932
Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1937 - 1953
Career Position - Sherardian Professor of Botany and Fellow, Magdalen College, University of Oxford
1953
Career position - Appointed Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford
1955 - 1973
Award - Honorary Fellow, Royal Society of South Australia
1958
Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
1962
Career position - Appointed Professor Emeritus, University of Adelaide

Related Awards

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide

  • Theodore George Bentley Osborn - Records, 1908 - 1965, MSS 0020; Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Robertson, Rutherford, 'Osborn, Theodore George Bentley (1887-1973), Botanist, Ecologist and Academic' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 99-100. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110110b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

  • 'Obituary: Professor T. G. B. Osborn', South Australian Naturalist, 48 (1) (1973), 9. Details
  • Osborn, T. G. B., 'Robert Brown (1773-1858).', Australian Journal of Science, 21 (1958), 127-130. Details
  • Robertson, R. N.; and Eardley, C. M., 'Obituary: Theodore George Bentley Osborn, DSc, MA, FLS (2.10.1887 - 3.6.1973)', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 97 (4) (1973), 317-320, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41080096. Details
  • Robertson, R. N.; and White, N. H., 'Obituary. Professor T.G.B. Osborn', Search, 4 (11/12) (1973), 455. Details

Resources

See also

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P000687b.htm

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