Norman Alan Burges

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(5 August 1911 – 4 October 2002), was an Australian botanist who became the first Vice-Chancellor of the

New University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

Life

He was born 5 August 1911, in

East Maitland, New South Wales East Maitland is a suburb in the City of Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and it has two railway stations, Victoria Street (opened in 1857 with the Newcastle- Maitland line) and East Maitland (opened ini ...

, and took his first degree and MSc at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

, then studied for his PhD in

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogen ...

at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. After a short period as a Research Fellow at Emmanuel, at the outbreak of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

in 1939 he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

serving in

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

.obituary at Google Groups
After the war he returned to Australia and in 1947 became Professor of Botany at the

, and later Dean of the Faculty of Science and a Fellow of Senate there. he also acted as the Hon. General Secretary of the

Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British As ...

during that period. In 1952 he returned to England to take the post of Professor of Botany (a chair endowed by and named after

Holbrook Gaskell Holbrook Gaskell (5 March 1813 – 8 March 1909) was a British industrialist, and an art and plant collector. Early life Gaskell was born in Wavertree, Liverpool. He was the eldest son of Roger Gaskell, a sailcloth manufacturer, from his mar ...

) at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

Subsequently he became Acting Vice-Chancellor (1964–5) and Pro-Vice Chancellor (1965–66) there. He served as President of the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

1958-1959 He was one of the four long-term co-editors of

Flora Europaea The ''Flora Europaea'' is a 5-volume encyclopedia of plants, published between 1964 and 1993 by Cambridge University Press. The aim was to describe all the national Floras of Europe in a single, authoritative publication to help readers identify ...

Project from 1956. In 1966 he was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the

in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, where he remained until retirement in 1976. Following retirement he took an active part in Ulster cultural affairs, for example as chairman, of the

Ulster American Folk Park The Ulster American Folk Park is an open-air museum just outside Omagh, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. With more than 30 exhibit buildings to explore, the museum tells the story of three centuries of Irish emigration. Using costumed guides ...

(1975–88) and of the Northern Ireland Committee of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

(1978–81). He was appointed

in 1980.London Gazette January 1980
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Publications

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Personal life

In 1940 he married Florence Evelyn Moulton; they had three daughters, Judith, Jennifer and Anne. They also had a son Andrew who died as a young child. Alan died on 4 October 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burges, Alan 20th-century Australian botanists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1911 births 2002 deaths Vice-Chancellors of Ulster University