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'