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John Innes Centre

The Haldane Lecture

John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, an eminent mathematical biologist and co-founder of the 'synthetic theory of evolution', was employed by the John Innes Trustees, under the Directorship of Sir Daniel Hall, for ten years (1927-37) on a part-time basis whilst at the University of Cambridge.

Unable to find a suitable person to lead the genetical research at John Innes, Hall convinced the Trustees to employ Haldane in an advisory capacity, to which Haldane firmly adhered, never once performing any experiments whilst at John Innes. He finally resigned his part-time position when Daniel Hall was asked by the Trustees to continue as Director at a time when perhaps Haldane felt he might have been offered the post.

There is little doubt that Haldane's contribution during those years ensured the continued development of genetical research at John Innes and maintained the foundations laid by William Bateson our first Director, for our achievements and continued strength in this field of plant and microbial science today.

The Haldane Print is a collage produced by Mrs Leonie Woolhouse depicting his life and interests from archive material held at the John Innes Centre and is presented to the Haldane Lecturer.

History of Haldane Lecturers

  • 2001 John Maynard-Smith
  • 2002 Tim Mitchison
  • 2003 Sydney Brenner
  • 2004 Pat Brown
  • 2006 Bruce Stillman, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
  • 2007 Herbert Jaeckle, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry - 'Lean or fat: control of energy homeostasis in animals'
  • 2011 Simon Levin, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University - 'Crossing scales'