John Wyndham Dawson (1 February 1928 – 11 March 2019) was a New Zealand

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Early life and education

Dawson was born in

Eketāhuna Eketāhuna is a small rural settlement, in the south of the Tararua (district), New Zealand, Tararua District and the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is located at eastern foot of the Tararua Ranges, 35 kilome ...

on 1 February 1928 to Walter and Winifred Dawson, and was the youngest of 4 sons. He was educated at Eketahuna District High School and

Christchurch Boys' High School Christchurch Boys' High School, often referred to as CBHS, is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a site between the suburbs of Riccarton, New Zealand, Riccarton and Fendalton, to the west of ce ...

. He studied at

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

from 1947 to 1952, graduating with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

with second-class honours in 1953. He was then awarded a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

, and undertook doctoral studies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, from where he gained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in January 1958. The title of his thesis was ''A revision of the genus Anisotome Hook f. (Umbelliferae)''. In 1958, Dawson married Judith Macken, and the couple went on to have three children.

Career

In 1957, Dawson was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Botany at Victoria University College (from 1962 known as

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

), and remained there until his retirement in 1988, having risen to the rank of associate professor. He served as head of the Botany Department between 1984 and 1987. Dawson was a

Fellow of the Linnaean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

. Dawson's research covered the characteristics, relationships and history of New Zealand plants. In particular, he was interested in the ''

Umbelliferae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering ...

'' family of alpine plants, including ''

Aciphylla ''Aciphylla'' is a genus of about 40 species of herbaceous plants in the family Apiaceae, all but two of them endemic to New Zealand (the remaining two species are found only in Australia). They range from small cushion plants to tall flower spi ...

,'' and he also studied New Caledonian flora from the family

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

. After his retirement from Victoria, Dawson continued his botanical research in New Caledonia, he ran extension courses on the native plants of New Zealand, and was a guide at

Ōtari-Wilton's Bush Ōtari-Wilton's Bush is a native botanic garden and forest reserve located in Wilton, New Zealand, Wilton in Wellington, New Zealand. It is New Zealand's only public botanic garden dedicated solely to the native plants of New Zealand. Overvi ...

. Dawson's book, ''New Zealand's Native Trees'', co-written with Rob Lucas, was named "Book of the Year" at the 2012 New Zealand Post Book Awards.

Death

Dawson died in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

on 11 March 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, John 1928 births 2019 deaths People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School People from Eketāhuna Victoria University of Wellington alumni UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources alumni 20th-century New Zealand botanists Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington 21st-century New Zealand botanists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London