David Alan Walker (18 August 1928 – 12 February 2012) was a British scientist and professor of

photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...

in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences (APS) at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. He authored over 200 scientific publications including several books during his lifetime.

Education

Walker was born in Hull and attended South Shields Boys' High School from 1939 to 1946. After doing his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the Royal Naval Air Service, he studied at King's College, Newcastle, then part of the Durham University, where he received his Bachelor of Science and subsequently his PhD for research supervised by Meirion Thomas.

Career and research

Walker's research interests were in photosynthesis, specifically he:

Awards and honours

Walker was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

(FRS) in 1976. His nomination reads: In 2004, Walker received the International Society of Photosynthesis Research Communications Award "to acknowledge his outstanding efforts to communicate photosynthesis to the general public." Walker was also awarded a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

degree from Newcastle University in recognition of his exceptional contributions of published work in his field.

References

1928 births 2012 deaths British botanists Researchers of photosynthesis Academics of the University of Sheffield Scientists from Kingston upon Hull Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of King's College, Newcastle {{UK-botanist-stub