As a surprise treat, a daughter had asked us if we would show her 86 year old father Dr Peter Hunt around our biology buildings old & new, as he did his first degree in botany here in Bristol and he also did his PhD with the world famous mycologist Lilian E Hawker also in Bristol, he was here from 1951 to 1957.
Absolute pleasure to show him around our wonderful new building, and he was lucky enough to speak to some of our wonderful 1st year undergrads in the their practical class looking at protists which he knew all about from his own undergrad days. Also lovely to give him a tour of Fry Building, which in 1950’s had biology & chemistry in it, now been beautifully refurbished for Maths, it was lovely that he still recognised many features & where his lab was, even though 60 years since last visit.
After Bristol he moved to Cornell University where he saw the light and converted to plant pathology, before taking up a position at University of the West Indies in Jamaica where he spent the majority of his career, and later worked with ODA (now DFiD) and other aid agencies in Sumatra, Java, Grenada and Belize. He worked on cloves, peppers, citrus and others I hope we are all as sharp and sprightly as he was today at age 86.
Written by Professor Gary Foster
Twitter @Prof_GD_Foster