Lorna Ann Casselton, (18 July 1938 – 14 February 2014) was a British academic and biologist. She was Professor Emeritus of Fungal Genetics in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Oxford, and was known for her genetic and molecular analysis of the mushroom ''

Coprinus cinereus ''Coprinopsis cinerea'' is a species of mushroom in the family Psathyrellaceae. Commonly known as the gray shag, it is edible, but must be used promptly after collecting. ''Coprinopsis cinerea'' is an important model organism for studying fung ...

'' and '' Coprinus lagopus''.Casselton's profile
on '' Debrett's''Lorna Casselton obituary: Researcher into the genetic basis of fungal mating
''The Guardian'', 31 March 2014

Early life

Casselton was born on 18 July 1938 in

Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a popu ...

, Essex to William Charles Henry Smith and Cecile Smith (née Bowman). Her parents' smallholding and her father's interest in natural history and genetics encouraged her and her sister Pauline in the direction of biology. She was educated at

Southend High School for Girls Southend High School for Girls is a grammar school with academy status situated on Southchurch Boulevard in the east of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. It caters for students from the age of 11 through to 18 years old. Academics As of 2022, ...

, a grammar school in Southend-on-Sea. She studied at University College London, from which she gained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in botany and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1964.

Academic career

Casselton began her career in lecturing and research as an assistant lecturer at

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

in London. She was Professor of Genetics at Queen Mary University of London from 1989 to 1991 and was later awarded an AFRC/

BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific rese ...

Postdoctoral Fellowship, followed by a

Senior Research Fellowship in 1995. Casselton was a Fellow of St Cross College Oxford from 1993 to 2003, and was appointed Professor of Fungal Genetics at Oxford in 1997. Her specialism was sexual development in fungi and she contributed to over 100 publications on this topic. She was a Fellow of

St Cross College, Oxford St Cross College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1965, St Cross is an all-graduate college with gothic and traditional-style buildings on a central site in St Giles', just south of Pusey Street. It a ...

, from 1993 to 2003, and an Honorary Fellow of

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it ...

, from 2000. She was a member of the Royal Society's Council from 2002 to 2003, and rejoined the Council in 2006 as Vice-President and Foreign Secretary, replacing Professor Dame Julia Higgins.http://royalsociety.org/people/lorna-casselton/ Casselton's biography on the Royal Society website As Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, Casselton gave the Royal Society Rutherford Lecture in South Africa and the

Blackett Blackett or Blacket is a surname of English derivation. People * Andrea Blackett (born 1976), Barbadian athlete * Basil Phillott Blackett (1882–1935), British civil servant and finance expert * Basil Blackett (1886–1920), British WW1 flying ...

Lecture in India, travelling to 27 different countries during three and a half years in office.

Personal life

She married Peter John Casselton in 1961, divorcing him in 1978. She married William Joseph Dennis Tollett in 1981. She died after a short illness, aged 75.

Awards and honours

She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999. She became a Member of the Academia Europaea in 2008, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by Queen Mary College, University of London in 2009 and University College London in September 2010. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2012 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom. on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,1938 births 2014 deaths 20th-century British biologists 20th-century British women scientists Academics of Queen Mary University of London Academics of the University of Oxford Alumni of University College London British biologists British women biologists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English geneticists British women geneticists Fellows of St Cross College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society Female fellows of the Royal Society Members of Academia Europaea People educated at Southend High School for Girls People from Rochford People from Southend-on-Sea People from Essex