Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby, FRS (24 August 1904 – 22 October 1992) was a British botanist and educator. Born in Leytonstone in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, he was educated at the

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

and the Royal College of Science, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

. He was then demonstrator at the Imperial College from 1926 to 1929. In 1929, he received a Harkness Fellowship to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. Ashby was a lecturer at Imperial College from 1931 to 1935, and at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

from 1935 to 1938.

Marriage

Ashby married Elizabeth Helen Margaret Farries, whom he met while they were working together on incineration techniques for measuring carbon in tissue. They had two children,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

and Peter.

Career

In 1938, Ashby became professor of botany at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, a post he held until 1946. Between 1944 and 1945, he was Scientific Counsellor to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. From 1947 to 1950, he held the Harrison Chair of Botany at the University of Manchester. According to Burges and Eden"His enthusiasm and flair for botany made Manchester one of the leading botanical schools in the United Kingdom". From 1950 to 1959 he was president and vice-chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast. For the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, he was Master of

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

from 1959 to 1975, and vice-chancellor from 1967 to 1969. From 1968 to 1974 he was Chairman of the Governors at Culford School; and between 1970 and 1973, he was chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. Ashby was knighted in 1956, and was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Ashby, ''of Brandon in the County of Suffolk'' on 6 July 1973. Ashby was secretary of the

Society for Experimental Biology The Society for Experimental Biology is a learned society for animal, cell and plant biologists. It was founded in 1923 at Birkbeck College to "promote the art and science of experimental biology in all its branches". It aims to demonstrate the im ...

from 1935 to 1938 and president of the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...

from 1962 to 1963. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1961. In 1968, he received the Centenary Medal of the Royal Society of Tasmania and in 1973, he became president and chancellor of the Queen's University, Belfast. He was adviser to the British National Fruit Traders Association and a

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

(FRS). He was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath in 1966.Profile
, bath.ac.uk; accessed 18 April 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashby, Baron Ashby, Eric 1904 births 1992 deaths Academics of Imperial College London Academics of the University of Bristol Academics of Queen's University Belfast Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge Masters of Clare College, Cambridge Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Academic staff of the University of Sydney Chancellors of Queen's University Belfast Vice-chancellors of Queen's University Belfast Fellows of the Royal Society Harkness Fellows Knights Bachelor Life peers People educated at the City of London School Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Presidents of the British Science Association Life peers created by Elizabeth II

Marriage

Career

See also

References