Frank Winder (Francis Gerard Augustine Winder; 14 April 1928 – 30 December 2007, in Dublin) was an Irish professor of biochemistry, a naturalist, and one of Ireland's leading rock climbers in the 1950s and 1960s.

Scientific career

Winder received his early education at

Belvedere College Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. History Belvedere owes its origin ...

, and developed an early interest in botany and zoology, cycling around the Irish countryside looking for interesting specimens. In 1945 he entered University College Dublin (UCD) to study science and came to the attention of

Arthur Stelfox Arthur Wilson Stelfox (15 December 1883–19 May 1972) was an Irish naturalist and architect. Stelfox was a recognised authority on Hymenoptera and on non-marine Mollusca especially the genus ''Pisidium''. He also made important contribut ...

of the Natural History Museum. Stelfox introduced Winder to

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Philip Graves, who promptly sent the 18-year-old Winder off to the mountains of Kerry in search of a rare butterfly, but Winder returned with a specimen of a

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

, Cordulia aenea, which was previously unknown in Ireland.universityscience.ie – profile of Frank Winder
/ref> While climbing a steep gully on Knocknagantee in Kerry in search of a rare fern, Winder sustained a long fall but luckily was not seriously injured. It was that fall which made him realise that he would need to acquire rock-climbing skills if he was to explore cliffs in relative safety. (He later revisited the site of his fall, establishing a new rock-climb on the neighbouring buttress.) Winder graduated from UCD with a BSc in biochemistry in 1948 and an MSc the following year. In 1950, after a brief period working for Glaxo, he joined a Medical Research Council research laboratory in Trinity College Dublin working on the chemotherapy of tuberculosis, under the leadership of

Vincent Barry Vincent Christopher Barry (1908–1975) was a scientist and researcher from Ireland. He is known for leading the team which developed the anti-leprosy drug clofazimine. Early life and education Barry was born in Sunday's Well, Cork. He was ...

. The team developed a class of phenazines that proved very effective in the treatment of TB and leprosy, and remain in use worldwide. Winder also pioneered research into the primary anti-TB drug, isoniazid; his work on this continues to be cited internationally. In Trinity, he became a lecturer in biochemistry in 1960, a fellow of the college in 1962, reader in 1966, dean of Graduate Studies 1974 to 1977 and professor in 1975. He was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Science in 1972. He served as director of the Biology Teaching Centre from 1986 to 1991 and was co-opted to Senior Fellowship in 1985. He served on the Board of College where he made contributions to the debates on policy and other business. He retired in 1996, but continued to come to college every day until shortly before his death. In the 1950s Winder was one of the founders of ''Tuairim'', a group of young professionals who formed a think-tank to examine the problems affecting Ireland at the time, especially that of emigration. He was elected to membership of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

in 1961 and held the office of vice-president three times.

Climbing career

Frank Winder joined the Irish Mountaineering Club (IMC) shortly after its founding in 1948, and quickly became one of its leading members.J. Lynam and P.O'Neill (editors), ''IMC50: The Golden Jubilee of the Irish Mountaineering Club'', (IMC 1998) He established many new rock-climbs in various parts of Ireland, especially in counties Wicklow,

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

, and Galway. His most notable first ascents were made during the period 1950 to 1960, and include: * Dalkey Quarry – ''Bracket Wall'' (HVS), ''Winder's Slab'' (VS), ''Winder's Crack'' (VD), ''Eliminate A Dash'' (S) * Glendalough – ''Quartz Gully'' ( grade HS), ''Prelude/Nightmare'' (VS), ''Fanfare'' (VS), ''Spillikin Ridge'' (now harder at E3, climbed by Winder with several points of aid), ''Lethe'' (VS), ''Forest Rhapsody'' (VS), ''Cúchulainn Groove'' (HS) * Lough Barra ( Derryveagh, Co. Donegal) – ''Diversion'' (S), ''Triversion'' (S), ''Surplomb Grise'' (VS), ''Fomorian'' (HS), ''Tarquin's Groove'' (HS) * Lough Belshade (

Bluestacks BlueStacks is an American technology company known for the BlueStacks App Player and other cloud-based cross-platform products. The BlueStacks App Player allows Android applications to run on computers running Microsoft Windows or macOS. T ...

, Co. Donegal) – ''Byzantium'' (VS) * Luggala – ''Spearhead'' (HVS) * Poisoned Glen (Bluestacks, Co. Donegal) – ''Route Two'' (S), ''Ulysses'' (VS), ''Rafiki'' (VS) Many of those climbs are now regarded as classics, and challenging even by today's much-higher standards. Winder also climbed extensively abroad, visiting the Alps, Britain, and North America (

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

and

Grand Tetons The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park and ...

). He was elected president of the IMC for two terms in the 1960s and 80s. He also played a prominent role in mountain environmental organisations such a
Wicklow Uplands Council
ref name=unisci/> and Keep Ireland Open.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winder, Frank 1928 births 2007 deaths Irish mountain climbers Irish rock climbers Irish biochemists 20th-century Irish botanists Irish entomologists Members of the Royal Irish Academy People educated at Belvedere College Alumni of University College Dublin Fellows of Trinity College Dublin 20th-century Irish zoologists