The 2003 BCPC Medallists

Dr David Anthony Evans & Mr Harry McLaughlin Lawson

Dr David Anthony Evans

Dr David A Evans grew up in Port Talbot, South Wales before gaining a BSc, MSc and PhD in chemistry from Manchester University. In 1967 he became a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA returning to the UK in 1970 as research fellow at Cambridge University.

David’s first decade of contribution to crop protection was as a university lecturer and researcher in organic chemistry at the University of Southampton. His work on natural products in entomology, as director of the Wolfson Chemical Entomology Unit, attracted much interest and at that time he was a regular contributor to BCPC and SCI meetings, including presentation of the BCPC 2000 Bawden lecture.

In 1979 he joined Fisons as head of chemistry and in the subsequent ten years held increasingly senior posts in R&D for FBC Limited and then Schering Agrochemicals, culminating in the post of director of research. During this period he strongly supported the adoption of a multidisciplinary, scientific approach to the development of new crop protection products.

David joined ICI Agrochemicals at Jealott’s Hill Research Station in 1989 as research general manager and went on to become director of research and development. His personal contribution was the use of cutting-edge science in research and development and encouraging interaction between the various disciplines through project team work. Under his leadership, ICI/Zeneca were making critical choices between the analogues in the strobilurin and callistemone classes of chemistry which led to outstanding new products.

In the late 1990s David took responsibility for biotech resources in Zeneca (now Syngenta) and their integration with chemical approaches in crop protection. This presented opportunities with new emerging technologies and provided a major contribution to the development of integrated crop management through the visualisation of the best combination of genes and chemicals.

In April 2003 David retired from Syngenta. He continues his involvement with consultancies and university appointments. He is a board member of Rothamsted Research, a committee member of the SCI and the Royal Society of Chemistry and is chairman of the Committee for Chemistry and Industry of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

When he has some spare time there is nothing that David likes more than watching rugby union football, gardening, photography and travel as well as maintaining a passionate interest in the public appreciation of science.

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Mr Harry McLaughlin Lawson

Harry Lawson grew up in Ayrshire, Scotland, before gaining a BSc in agriculture from Glasgow University in 1956. At Reading University he took a post-graduate diploma in crop husbandry, and was then awarded a two-year scholarship to Massey University (New Zealand) where he gained a MAgSc degree.

In 1960 he was appointed team leader in herbicide R&D for Dow Chemical Co. in the UK. Here he acquired experience in how herbicides are developed, registered and marketed, which proved of great value in his later career.

In 1966 he joined the Scottish Horticultural (now Crop) Research Institute (SHRI), in charge of research on interactions between weeds, herbicides and horticultural crops. He was never happier than when solving practical problems for growers. In the 1980s, as the focus of the Institute moved more into arable crops, Harry’s remit changed to include seed potatoes, volunteer crops and weed seedbanks. This led to co-operative projects with arable R&D colleagues throughout the UK, which provided much challenge, interest and enjoyment. He retired in 1994.

In 1989 Harry was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Horticulture and in 1977 he was awarded the Scottish Horticultural Medal for services to horticulture.

His involvement with BCPC began when he attended the 1960 Brighton Weeds Conference and he has attended most Weeds conferences since then, presenting papers and organising and chairing sessions. Harry contributed to several editions of the Weed Control Handbook and served for many years on the BCPC R&D Weeds Sub-committee, representing horticulture.

At age 60, and not ready to retire completely, Harry took on the post of technical editor of Weed Research. With his previous editing experience and a total of over 180 scientific and other publications to his name, he was well-suited for the job and enjoyed it thoroughly. During his eight-year tenure, the journal grew in size and also increased its impact factor substantially. He retired finally in December 2002.

Harry, who is married with two children and six grandchildren, now has time to pursue some of his many interests, including gardening, walking, reading, ecology and Rotary. An active member of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, he is currently involved in recording wild flower populations of local road verges around his home in Balmerino, Fife.

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