OBITUARIES

Paul R. Gorham

Paul R. Gorham

Paul R. Gorham was born April 16, 1918, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, and obtained his first degree at the University of New Brunswick in 1938, followed by a master of science at the University of Maine (Orono) in 1940 and a PhD at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena) in 1943.

Paul returned to Canada and began his scientific career with Agriculture Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, where he worked on the physiology of rubber-bearing plants as part of Canada’s war effort. In 1945, he joined the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, also in Ottawa, working on vitamin analysis of stored foods. In 1948, with the creation of NRC’s new Plant Physiology section, he shifted his focus to the photosynthetic process and the identification of toxins produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).

In 1969, he accepted a position as a full professor of botany at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. There he continued his pioneering research on the translocation of photosynthetic assimilates and cyanobacterial toxins. He also took part in studies of submersed aquatic macrophytes in relation to thermal effluents. Paul served as chairman of the botany department from 1971 to 1979. He retired as emeritus professor in 1983.

Paul was very involved with the development of a number of professional associations. He played a major role in the formation of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists (CSPP) and was its first president in 1958. He was instrumental as well in the creation of the International Association for Plant Physiology and the Canadian Botanical Association (CBA) and was awarded the Mary E. Elliott Medal in 1979 for services to the latter. He also served for 10 years on the editorial board of Plant Physiology.

Paul gave a great deal of his time to community activities, serving on the boards of the Edmonton Art Gallery and Friends of the University of Alberta Devonian Botanic Garden for many years. In particular, he was a driving force behind the creation of the botanic garden’s five-acre Kurimoto Japanese Garden. For these and other services to his country, he was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967 and the Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal in 1978.

His scientific contributions, reflected in a long list of publications in established journals, were recognized by his election as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1961; the bestowment of an honorary DSc by his alma mater, the University of New Brunswick, in 1978; his election as a fellow of the Rawson Academy of Aquatic Science in 1979; and the awarding by the CSPP of its Gold Medal in 1987 and by the CBA of its Lawson Medal in 1988.

A deeply compassionate man, Paul was a generous friend and mentor to numerous graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and colleagues over the years. Paul leaves his widow Evelyn, three children, and five grandchildren. A memorial service was held at the Westwood Unitarian Congregation in Edmonton on November 23, 2006. Memorial donations can be made to the Edmonton Cardiac Institute (111 Avenue & Groat Road, Edmonton, Alberta T5M 3L7 Canada) or the University of Alberta Devonian Botanic Garden (Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1 Canada).

Harriet Gorham
hgorham@sympatico.ca

Connie Nozzolillo
(retired) University of Ottawa