Watson, Irvine Armstrong (1914 - 1986)

Summary

Irvine Watson was a world leader in wheat research and a major contributor to the Australian wheat industry. His principal research was into stem rusts of wheat, leading to the development and release of no less than 16 new high quality rust-resistant wheats. In trials of wheat varieties he worked closely with his University of Sydney colleague, Walter L. Waterhouse. Watson also maintained fruitful collaborations with the farming community and the flour milling industry. Having joined the University of Sydney in 1938, he became Professor of Agricultural Botany (Plant Breeding) in 1962, retiring 15 years later. His research was recognised with a number of awards, including the James Cook Medal from the Royal Society of New South Wales, and the Farrer Memorial Medal. The Northwest Wheat Research Institute in Narrabri, N.S.W., was renamed the I. A. Watson Wheat Research Centre in 1977 in honour of his contribution to wheat improvement in Australia.

Details

Chronology

1938

Education - BAgSc (hons), University of Sydney

1938

Career position - Assistant Lecturer in Agriculture, University of Sydney

1939 - 1941

Career position - Thomas Lawrence Pawlett Scholarship, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.

1941

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.

1941 - 1944

Career position - Assistant Lecturer in Agriculture, University of Sydney

1944 - 1946

Career position - Lecturer in agriculture, University of Sydney

1952 - 1965

Career position - Head, Section of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Sydney

1955 - 1956

Career position - Research Associate, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.

1955 - 1962

Career position - Associate Professor in Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Sydney

1958

Award - Farrer Memorial Medal, Farrer Memorial Trust

1962 - 1977

Career position - Professor of Agricultural Botany (Plant Breeding), University of Sydney

1964 - 1986

Award - Fellow, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science

1966

Award - Elvin Charles Stalkman Award, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.

1966 - 1967

Career position - Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Sydney

1966 - 1976

Career position - Head, Department of Agricultural Botany, University of Sydney

1971

Award - Commemorative Medal, International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre, Mexico

1972 - 1986

Award - Foreign Member, Soviet Academy of Agricultural Science

1974 - 1977

Career position - Director of the Plant Breeding Institute and Head of the Department of Agricultural Botany, University of Sydney

1975 - 1986

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1975 - 1986

Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences

1977

Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

1977

Award - James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1979

Award - DSc (Agriculture), University of Sydney

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Watson, I. A. and Butler, F. C., Wheat rust control in Australia: national conferences and other developments and initiatives (Sydney: University of Sydney, 1984), 80 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• McIntosh, R. A.; and Smith-White, S., 'Irvine Armstrong Watson 1914-1986', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (4) (1989), 405-415. Details
• McIntosh, R. A.; Mullins, M. G. C.; and Deverall, B. J., 'Death of a distinguished plant pathologist', Australasian Plant Pathology, 15 (2) (1986), 48-9. Details
• Watson, I. A., 'Walter Lawry Waterhouse, 1887 - 1969 (memorial series, no. 22)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 95 (3) (1971), 260-3. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q30316936. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/93110509. Details
• 'Watson, I A (1914-1986)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-555711. Details

Resource Sections

• McIntosh, R. A.; and Smith-White, S., 'Irvine Armstrong Watson 1914-1986', in Australian Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs, Australian Academy of Science, 2006, https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/biographical-memoirs/irvine-armstrong-watson-1914-1986. Details

See also

• Copeland, Les, 'A century of agriculture in the University of Sydney', Agricultural science, 31 (2) (2020), 59-65. Details
• Fenner, Frank ed., History of Microbiology in Australia (Melbourne: Australian Society for Microbiology, 1990), 624 pp. Details
• 'Watson, Irvine Armstrong (1914 - 1986)', Farrer Memorial Trust Medal recipients and orations, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Sydney, 2023, https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/596216/farrer_oration_1958_dr-ia-watson.pdf. https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/who-we-are/interacting_2/farrer-memorial-trust/farrer-memorial-trust-medal-recipients-and-orations. Details