Michael Goodfellow OBE (born 8 January 1941) is a British

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in microbial systematics, specialising in

Actinomycetota The ''Actinomycetota'' (or ''Actinobacteria'') are a phylum of all gram-positive bacteria. They can be terrestrial or aquatic. They are of great economic importance to humans because agriculture and forests depend on their contributions to s ...

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

. He earlier served as head of the School of Biology in

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

. He is also the chair of the Bergey's Manual Trust.

Education

Goodfellow was born in

Ecclefechan Ecclefechan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Eaglais Fheichein'') is a small village located in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland. The village is famous for being the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle. Ecclefechan lies in the valley of the Mein Wate ...

, Scotland and went to school at Carlisle Grammar School. He did both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees 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 ...

, graduating with PhD in 1966. He took a postdoctoral fellowship at Penn State, then as an MRC Junior Research Fellow at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

. In 1969 he joined the then newly established University of Newcastle, where he currently serves as head of the School of Biology.Homepage of Prof Michael Goodfellow at University of Newcastle

Goodfellow in Newcastle University

In Newcastle he established and developed courses in microbial systematics and biotechnology and managed the Microbial Resource Laboratory (MRC) for over 30 years. The MRC has and remains focussed on the development and application of state-of-the-art procedures designed to advance the systematics, ecology and commercialisation of actinobacteria. ;Key achievements at the University of Newcastle include: *Forty years research funding from sponsors such as the European Commission, Research Councils (BBSRC, ESRC, MRC and NERC), The British Council and industrial concerns, notably Glaxo Smith Kline, Novartis and

Severn Trent Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...

Water (51 funded projects in total). *Supervision of students who completed 62 PhDs., 4 M.Phils, and innumerable M.Sc's. *International recognition for promoting actinobacterial biology and prokaryotic systematics, as exemplified by the award of international prizes, honorary degrees, and invitations to present keynote lectures at international symposia. Owing to his contribution to microbial systematics, a bacterial

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

was named after him as '' Goodfellowia''.

Educationist

Apart from his research activities he was involved in development of education in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was appointed as a governor for Gosforth High School in 1974 and later elected the chair of governors in 1979, a post he still holds. For his service in education he was named

Member of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(MBE) in the

2010 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Christ ...

list.New Year honours list: MBEs on Guardian
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodfellow, Michael 1941 births People educated at Carlisle Grammar School Academics of Newcastle University Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire