It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our well-loved and esteemed colleague, Professor John Hall, who passed away on 3 August after a long illness at the age of 81. John was the founding Head of School of Biological Sciences for six years when it was formed from the Departments of Biology and Physiology and Biochemistry in 1990 and his patience, experience, personal and administrative skills as well as his widely-acknowledged fairness were all instrumental in making the merger a success.
Originally from Bristol, John did a B.Sc. in Botany at Imperial College followed by a D. Phil. at the University of Oxford in Plant Biochemistry where he studied cell surface phosphatases and ATPases. After graduating, he joined the University of Sussex in 1965 as an Assistant Lecturer. Here he developed a research group that made pioneering advances in our thinking about how plants function. He recognised the importance of moving traditional observational studies of plant growth into a mechanistic understanding and helped lay the foundations for biochemical studies on plant membranes, especially in relation to phloem transport and salt tolerance. In 1978 he was promoted to Reader and then in 1981 moved to the University of Southampton to take up a Chair in Biology, becoming Head of Department in 1983, a role he did for seven years. During his time at Southampton he continued to work on problems in plant membrane transport, studying the physiological mechanisms of sugar, amino acid and metal transporters in model and crop plants and also contributed to our understanding of plant fungal interactions though his work on powdery mildew. He graduated 44 Ph.D. students over his career, with many going onto to academic jobs, and published 135 research articles and 18 reviews over his career.
In addition to his research accomplishments, John made many contributions to teaching. He was a wonderful lecturer, and also wrote three textbooks translated into numerous languages (and edited five others). He served for six years as Director of Teaching after stepping down as Head of School, guiding the School successfully through the first national teaching assessments, and was an external examiner for undergraduate degrees at 11 different universities. He also contributed as an editor for numerous journals including the Journal of Experimental Botany where he was an editor for 25 years and served as editor-in-chief for seven years. Despite all these accomplishments, he will be remembered best perhaps for his kindness and supportiveness to his PhD students, early career researchers, and fellow staff members and his contribution to the social life of the School. His hobbies revolved mostly around sport, both playing and watching, and where his competitive side shone through. He is survived by his wife Gill and two daughters. A service will be held on Wednesday 31st August, 2022 at 11.30am at Test Valley Crematorium, Ridge Lane, Romsey, SO51 6AA. Donations to Parkinson’s UK much appreciated.
Professor Matthew Terry
