Abstract Detail

Colloquium in Honor of John McNeill

Turland, Nicholas [1].

An introduction to John McNeill's career.

Graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 1955, McNeill began his career as Lecturer, first at the University of Reading (1957-1961), while completing his Ph.D. in Edinburgh (1960), and then at the University of Liverpool (1961-1969). He then moved Canada, first as Research Scientist at the Plant Research Institute, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa (1969-1981), and then as Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa (1981-1987). In 1987 McNeill returned to Scotland to serve as Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. In 1989 he returned to Canada, to serve as Associate Director (1989-1991), Director (1991-1995), and finally Director and President (1995-1997) of the Royal Ontario Museum and Professor in the Department of Botany at the University of Toronto (from 1990). On his official retirement in 1999, he returned again to Edinburgh, where he remains Director Emeritus of the Royal Ontario Museum, Professor in the Department of Botany of the University of Toronto, and Honorary Associate at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. McNeill has contributed to the global botanical community in three main ways: (1) Serving in senior positions at major institutions, as detailed above. (2) Taxonomic studies in the Caryophyllales. McNeill studied the Alsinoideae for his Ph.D., and continued to work in the Caryophyllaceae, especially on Alsinoideae, but also on Silene and Stellaria. He participated in recent molecular studies on the family and interpretation of the new data on generic classification. He has worked on other groups, including weedy species (several within the Caryophyllales), a synopsis of the Portulacaceae, Atriplex in the Amaranthaceae, and numerous papers on botanical nomenclature. He was also involved in the development and application of numerical taxonomy techniques during the 1970s and 1980s. He has been deeply involved in the Flora North America project, serving on its Editorial Committee (1985-2003), Management Committee (1997-2003), and Board of Directors (from 2003). (3) Botanical nomenclature. McNeill served on the Nomenclature Committee for Spermatophyta (1975-1999) and on the Editorial Committee of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature since the XIII International Botanical Congress in Sydney (1981). He was appointed Vice-rapporteur for the Nomenclature Section of the Berlin (1987) and Tokyo (1993) Congresses and Rapporteur-general for the Vienna (2005) and Melbourne (2011) Congresses. He also served for 12 years as Nomenclature Editor for Taxon (1999-2011), and continues to serve as a column editor for proposals to conserve and reject names.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Missouri Botanical Garden, Division of Science and Conservation, P.O. Box 299, Saint Louis, MO, 63166-0299, USA

Keywords:
McNeill
career
Caryophyllales
Nomenclature.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: C3
Location: Delaware D/Hyatt
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2012
Time: 1:45 PM
Number: C3001
Abstract ID:689