10 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org ASSOCIATION NEWS A Life Measured by the Seeds Sown: The Story of Stan Matthews Alison Powell ISTA Vigour Committee member A CAREER IN AGRICULTURE IS PERHAPS UNEXPECTED for someone born in the heartland of the industrial north of England. Stan was born on 13 February 1942 in Oldham, now part of Greater Manchester. He was a bright boy and after primary school gained a scholarship to go to the prestigious Manchester Grammar School from where he went to Leeds University to study agricultural botany. Following graduation, he went to Bangor University in North Wales where he first completed an MSc in Crop Protection before embarking on a PhD studying the problem of pre-emergence mortality in garden pea, under the supervision of Dr Bob Whitbread, who became a lifelong friend. It was in Bangor where he met two people that were to have a profound effect on his life, but in quite different ways. The first was Avril who he married in 1966, the second was his MSc project supervisor Professor John Harper. John was an eminent plant ecologist and a Fellow of the Royal Society, but it wasn’t his academic achievements that Stan admired most, it was his commitment to mentoring and supporting young people at the early stages of their career. Inspired by John, Stan showed the same passion throughout his working life and there are many people who owe their careers to the start that Stan gave them, several of whom attended his funeral. On the completion of his PhD, Stan spent a year at the National Vegetable Research Station in Wellesbourne before taking up a lectureship in plant physiology at Stirling. It was in Stirling that Stan and Avril started their family: Kate was the first to arrive, followed by Siôn and then Anna. Stan was incredibly proud of his children and their achievements, but later he was happy that all three were eventually well settled with their own partners and his five grandchildren. Stan was a well-liked and inspiring lecturer, not only in plant physiology, but also in human ecology and statistics. Several people have commented to me on how his statistics lectures helped them embark on their own careers using statistics. Unfortunately, this was one area where he definitely did not inspire me! As many people will know, Stan was a complete technophobe, so his application of statistics decreased as the use of computer programmes to complete analyses increased! While at Stirling, Stan was awarded a couple of substantial grants from the Wolfson Foundation to develop new tests of seed vigour in partnership with UK seed companies. At this point I had completed my PhD with Stan as my supervisor, and I joined the Wolfson team as a post-doctoral fellow. From this time, Avril and I became good friends, and I came to know the children well. Work on the controlled deterioration (CD) test was initiated in this period, carried out both in Stirling and in the field trial facilities at the seed companies in England. We also standardised the conductivity test among UK laboratories. In 1979, Stan moved to Aberdeen to become the Head of the Department of Crop Science at the North of Scotland College of Agriculture, later known as the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC). This appointment also carried responsibility for lecturing at the University of Aberdeen. The Wolfson Unit was based within the University, and I continued as a post doc. Tragically, Avril died of cancer three years after the move. Stan was devastated and enlisted the help of good friends, and two wonderful ladies who helped to maintain stability in the home. A few weeks later Stan was awarded a DSc from Bangor University for his contribution to seed science, but sadly Avril wasn’t there to see it. In Aberdeen, the Wolfson Unit continued the work on the CD test that had begun in Stirling, and saw first the conductivity test and then the CD test accepted into the International Rules for Seed Testing (ISTA Rules). Stan and I married in 1987; our work collaboration had lasted 52 years
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