Michael Webster Bevan (born 5 June 1952) is a professor at the

John Innes Centre The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, UK.

Education

Bevan was educated at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science in 1973 and a Master of Science in 1974. He went on to study at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, where he was awarded a PhD in 1979 for work on differentiation in

plant tissue culture Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium of known composition. It is widely used to produce clones of a plant in a method known ...

Research and career

Following his PhD, Bevan did

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

with Mary-Dell Chilton at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

where he identified ways to make functional chimaeric genes based on knowledge of gene function. Bevan returned to the UK at the

Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...

in 1980, part of the Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC). This became the

of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) where he has worked since 1988. As of 2014, Bevan's laboratory focus on the molecular control of

plant growth Important structures in plant development are buds, shoots, roots, leaves, and flowers; plants produce these tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. Thus, a living plant a ...

Awards and honours

Bevan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2013. His nomination reads: He was appointed

Officer 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 ...

(OBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to plant genomics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Michael 1952 births Living people University of Auckland alumni Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Academics of the University of East Anglia New Zealand Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization New Zealand scientists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Washington University in St. Louis fellows