George, Alexander Segger (1939 - )

Summary

Alex George is one of Australia's foremost taxonomic botanists. He is noted as an authority of the genus Banksia (family Proteaceae). With botanical artist Celia Rosser he published a 3-volume work illustrating all known species of the genus. George has published extensively on other proteaceous genera (particularly Dryandra and Synaphea), and genera from the family Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus, Angophora, Corymbia, Verticordia and Calothamnus. He was a member of staff of the Western Australian Herbarium from 1959 to 1981, when he became the first Executive Editor of the Flora of Australia. His collections, over 17,000 specimens particularly of Western Australian species, are in the Western Australian Herbarium. He has contributed significantly to international botany through his participation in organisations such as the Species Plantarum: Flora of the World project and the International Organisation for Plant Information.

Details

Chronology

1959

Career position - Laboratory Assistant, Western Australia Herbarium

1963

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Western Australia

1963 - 1981

Career position - Botanist, Western Australian Herbarium

1967 - 1969

Career event - Australian Botanical Liaison Officer, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

1969 - 1971

Career position - Editor, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia

1970 - 1981

Career position - Editor, Nuytsia

1973 - 1979

Career position - Member of Council, Australian Systematic Botany Society

1978 - 1980

Career position - Editor, Australian Systematic Botany Society newsletter

1981 - 1993

Career event - Inaugural and Executive Editor, Flora of Australia Project

1991 - 1997

Career event - Council Secretary, International Organisation for Plant Information

1993 - 2009

Career event - Honorary Research Associate, Western Australian Herbarium

1994 -

Career position - Adjunct Associate Professor, Murdoch University

1996 - 1998

Career event - Junior Vice-President, Royal Society of Western Australia

1998 - 2000

Career event - Senior Vice-President, Royal Society of Western Australia

1999 -

Career event - Member of Steering Committee, Species Plantarum: Flora of the World project

2000 - 2001

Career position - President, Royal Society of Western Australia

2000 - 2001

Career event - President, Royal Society of Western Australia

2003 -

Career event - Committee Member, Kew Guild Council

2004

Award - Nancy T. Burbidge Medal, Australian Systematic Botany Society

2004 - 2005

Career event - Australian Botanical Liaison Officer, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

2009

Award - DSc honoris causa, Murdoch University

2010 - 2012

Career event - President, Kew Guild Council

2012

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to conservation and the environment as a botanist, historian and author, particularly in the area of Australian flora, and through roles with national and international professional organisations

2015

Award - Wildflower Society of Western Australia Medal

2020 - 2021

Career position - Associate Editor, Australasian Systematic Botany Society newsletter

2024 -

Award - Honorary Member, Australasian Systematic Botany Society

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• George, Alex S., William Dampier in New Holland: Australia's First Natural Historian (Hawthorn, Victoria: Blooming Books, 1999), 191 pp. Details
• George, Alex S., Australian botanist's companion (Kardinya, W.A.: Four Gables Press, 2009), 671 pp. Details
• George, Alex S., A Banksia Album: Two Hundred Years of Botanical Art (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2012), 132 pp. Details
• Love, Margaret J.; Sherwood, Bryan R.; and George, Alex S., Georgiana Leake's Wildflower Album: Western Australia's First Botanical Artist (Perth: Royal Society of Western Australia, 2010), 292 pp. Details
• Morrison, Gordon and George, Alex [et al.], Capturing flora: 300 years of Australian botanical art (Ballarat, Vic.: Art Gallery of Ballarat, 2012), 288 pp. Details
• Rosser, Celia E.; and George, Alexander S., The banksias, 3 vols (London: Academic Press, 1981-2000). Details

Book Sections

• George, A.S.; McCusker, A.; and Orchard, A.E., 'A History of Systematic Botany in Australia' in Flora of Australia, Volume 1: Introduction, Orchard, Anthony E. & Thompson, Helen E., ed. (ABRS & CSIRO Publishing, 1999). Details
• George, Alex and McCusker, Alison, 'Flora' in Australians, a Guide to Sources, D. H. Borchardt and Victor Crittenden, eds (Broadway: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, 1987), pp. 94-103. Details

Conference Papers

• George, A.S., 'History is Now', in History of Systematic Botany in Australasia: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the University of Melbourne, 25-27 May 1988 edited by Short, P.S. (Melbourne: Australian Systematic Botany Society, 1990), pp. 317-318.. Details

Edited Books

• [various] ed., Flora of Australia ([various], 1981). Founding executive editor 1981 - 1993. Details
• George, Alex ed., The Australian Botanical Liaison Officer scheme at Kew, 1937 - 2009 (Kardinya, W.A: Four Gables Press., 2023), 362 pp. Details
• George, Alex S.; and Moore, David T. eds, Peter Good: Kew's gardener with Matthew Flinders on HMS Investigator, 1801 - 1803 (Kardinya, W.A.: Four Gables Press, 2022), 280 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Anon, 'Alex George, Associate Editor', Australasian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 182/3 (2020), 4. Details
• George, A. S., 'The plants seen and collected in north-western Australia by William Dampier', Western Australian Naturalist, 11 (1971), 173-8. Details
• George, A. S., 'Brian John Grieve [1907 - 1997]', Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 80 (4) (1997), 289-90, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58174757. Details
• George, Alex, 'Another example of illustrating an unillustrated work: Bentham's Flora australiensis', Archives of Natural History, 33 (2) (2006), 351-3. Details
• George, Alex, 'Nancy Tyson Burbidge - a Centenary', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 152 (2013), 2-3. Details
• George, Alex, 'Alison McCusker and the Flora of Australia', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 165 (2015), 62-4. Details
• George, Alex, 'William Dampier as a natural historian', The Great Circle: Journal of the Australian Association for Maritime History, 37 (1) (2015), 36-52. Details
• George, Alex S., 'Australian Type Material in the Economic Botany Collection, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew', Muelleria, 28 (2) (2010), 163-71. Details
• George, Alex S., 'Eucalyptus Cigars, Ferdinand Mueller and Prosper Vincent Ramel', Archives of Natural History, 39 (2012), 347-9. Details
• George, Alex; with assistance from Walsh, Neville, 'Margaret Corrick 11 October 1922 to 12 August 2020', Australasian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 186 (2021), 34-5. Details
• Nargar, Katharina, 'New Life Members of ASBS: Alexander S. George and Ann M. Munro', Australasian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 197/8 (2024), 3-5. Details

Resources

• 'George, Alex S (19390404-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-641116. Details

Reviews

• Orchard, A. E. and Orchard, T. A., The Botanist and the Judge: Allan Cunningham in Tasmania 1818-1819 (2014)
  George, Alex, 'Allan Cunningham's Tasmanian Explorations and Collections', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 160, (2014), 29-31. Details
• Lack, Hans Walter, The Bauers Joseph, Franz and Ferdinand: an illustrated history (2015)
  George, Alex, 'The big book on the Bauers', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 167, (2016), 38-47. Details
• Barry, Bernice, Georgiana Molloy: the mind that shines (2016)
  George, Alex, 'Standing on shoulders', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 167, (2016), 51-6. Details
• Mabberley, David, Painting by numbers: the life and art of Ferdinand Bauer (2017)
  George, Alex, 'Further insights into the life and art of Ferdinand Bauer', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 173, (2017), 42-4. Details
• Orchard, A. E. and Orchard, T. A., The Australian botanical journals of Allan Cunningham: the Oxley and early King expeditions October 1816 - February 1819 (2018)
  George, Alex, 'The mountain building continues: the Orchards' Allan Cunningham saga', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 177, (2018), 55-8. Details
• Henderson, M. Helen and Henderson, William G., The greater prize than gold: Augustus Oldfield, nineteenth century botanical collector and ethnographer (2018)
  George, Alex, 'Another biography of a major Australian plant collector: Augustus Oldfield', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 177, (2018), 58-61. Details
• Orchard, A. E.; and Orchard, T. A., Allan Cunningham's plant specimens 1816 - 1822: an annotated catalogue (2020)
  George, Alex, 'Onward and upward', Australasian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 185, (2020), 53-4. Details
• Musgrave, T., The multifarious Mr. Banks: from Botany Bay to Kew, the natural historian who shaped the world (2020)
  George, Alex, 'Yet more Banks', Australasian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 186, (2021), 24-6. Details

See also

• Fagg, Murray, 'George, Alexander S. (1939 - )', Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators, Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH), 2010, http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/george-alex.html. Details