Richard Ellis Ford Matthews (20 November 1921 – 19 February 1995) was a New Zealand plant virologist.

Biography

Matthews was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

in 1921. He grew up in Mount Albert, and was educated at Owairaka School and

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in N ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. He then attended Auckland University College, graduating with a Master of Science degree with second-class honours in 1942. After serving in the 7th Antitank Regiment of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Italy from 1943 to 1945, Matthews undertook PhD studies at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, graduating in 1948. He was appointed senior mycologist at the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1954 and senior principal research officer in 1956. In 1962, he was appointed professor of microbiology at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

, retiring in 1987. Matthews was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1962, and in 1978 he was awarded the Hector Medal. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1974. On 6 February 1988, Matthews was appointed a

Member of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by Royal warrant (documen ...

. He died in Auckland on 19 February 1995.

References

1921 births 1995 deaths People from Hamilton, New Zealand People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School University of Auckland alumni New Zealand military personnel of World War II Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Academic staff of the University of Auckland New Zealand microbiologists New Zealand fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Members of the Order of New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand scientists New Zealand phytopathologists New Zealand virologists 20th-century agronomists {{NewZealand-scientist-stub