Marshall (Hal) Davidson Hatch AM (born 24 December 1932) was an Australian

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and plant

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

. He was the chief research scientist at the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

Division of Plant Industry in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and was awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of Götting youen and the University of Queensland. In Australia, in 1966, he elucidated, jointly with Charles Roger Slack, the C₄ pathway for the fixation of carbon, which is also sometimes known as the Hatch-Slack pathway. He is now retired.

Early life

Hatch was born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to Alice (née Dalziell) and Lloyd Davidson Hatch. His father was an accountant and the family moved to Sydney in 1947. His primary education was at Applecross Primary School and he then had a year of high school at Wesley College before moving east. He was 14 when he commenced at

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

where he completed the last four years (1947–1950) of his high school education. He was a member of the First XV Rugby team and won the State under 17 years mile championship at Newington. He then majored in biochemistry 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 ...

completing his BSc with Honours in 1954 and a PhD in 1959.Hatch MD (1992) I Can't believe my luck: Personal perspective. Photosynthesis Research 33: 1-14.Hatch, Marshall Davidson (1932- ) http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000483b.htm), Bright Sparcs. The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994-2007.

Career

From 1955 to 1959 he was a plant research scientist at the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

(CSIRO) in Sydney. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 1959 to work with Professor Paul Stumpf in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California, Davis. From 1961 to 1966 Hatch worked as research officer in the David North Plant Research Centre at Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd in Brisbane with K.T. Glasziou. He was a reader in

botany 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 ...

at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in 1967; he returned to CSR from 1968 to 1969 serving as director of the David North Plant Research Centre. Since 1970 he has been chief research scientist at CSIRO Plant Industry in

.Hatch, Marshall Davidson (1932 - )
Bright Sparcs. The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007

Honours

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

in 2001 for service to Australian society and science in biochemistry and physiology. *

International Prize for Biology The is an annual award for "outstanding contribution to the advancement of research in fundamental biology." The Prize, although it is not always awarded to a biologist, is one of the most prestigious honours a natural scientist can receive. Ther ...

in 1991 for his contributions to the plant sciences. *

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1981 for public service in the field of plant metabolism. * Rank Prize in Nutrition in 1981, along with Hugo Kortschak and Roger Slack, for "outstanding work on the mechanism of

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

which established the existence of an alternative pathway for the initial fixation of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

in some important food plants". * Lemberg Medal in 1974, Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatch, Marshall Davidson 1932 births Living people Australian biochemists Researchers of photosynthesis People educated at Newington College University of Sydney alumni Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Order of Australia Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Plant physiologists