You are in > Home > News & Events > News > Congratulations to SAC’s John Robinson - Distinguished Service to Farming Recognised
RSS Feed
Featured Topics
- Follow us on Twitter
-
- Follow SAC News & Events
- Technical Notes
-
- Technical publications funded by the Scottish Government
Congratulations to SAC’s John Robinson - Distinguished Service to Farming Recognised
John Robinson, Emeritus Professor in Animal Production at SAC (opens in new window)
SAC colleagues have been adding their congratulations to John Robinson, Emeritus Professor in Animal Production at SAC. He has been awarded the Royal Northern Agricultural Society’s (RNAS) Press & Journal Shield for distinguished service to the farming industry.
Professor Robinson is described as being one of the most accomplished and respected academics of his generation in the field of animal production. According to the citation,
“the sheep industry owes much to his research into the feeding of pregnant and lactating ewes and the supplementation of new born lambs with colostrum. He fought hard against the EU’s decision to ban the use of fishmeal in ruminant diets and is widely recognised as a strong advocate of translating science into practice”
Having been raised on the family farm in Northern Ireland, Professor Robinson achieved a first class honours degree in Agriculture at Queen’s University, Belfast in 1963, where he was also awarded his Ph.D. He has worked in his adopted home of North East Scotland since joining the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, then SAC in 1994. His many other awards include the coveted Sir John Hammond prize awarded by the British Society of Animal Science and the Pharmacia prize for lifetime achievement, which he shared with Professor David Baird.
Despite his achievements, much of John’s lifelong work has been conducted out of the limelight – although he pursued a highly successful career in research, he much prefers a stroll through fields of sheep, where boyhood training led to a keen eye for strengths and weaknesses.
His many academic awards for his immense contribution to the science and practice of animal nutrition, reproduction and development biology include the coveted Sir John Hammond prize awarded by the British Society of Animal Science and the Pharmacia prize for lifetime achievement, which he shared with Professor David Baird.
John has been a supervisor of many Ph.D. students. Among the members of the ‘Robinson school’ are two influential scientists who are also with SAC - Chief Executive Professor Bill McKelvey and Agriculture programme leader Dr Bill Dingwall.
Professor McKelvey paid tribute to John’s achievements and to his outstanding abilities as a researcher and communicator. He said “This award is richly deserved. John has been an inspiration to an innumerable number of both undergraduate and postgraduate students over his career. He is an original thinker who has the ability to inspire, not only academic colleagues, but also grass-root livestock farmers”.
Dr Dingwall said: “We are delighted that John has been recognised with this award. He has always been very keen to ensure that his research findings are made available to those who matter most: the farmers, advisers and feeding and breeding industry representatives who work in the ‘real world’ of sheep production. He is very much an advocate of translating science into practice and of ‘problem-driven’ research. He has never been an ‘ivory tower’ scientist and his work has always been relevant to industry.”
SAC’s Jim Marr, a close colleague of Professor Robinson said: “John is extremely deserving of this recognition. He has rightly been widely sought for his teaching and consultancy and has had numerous collaborations with scientists overseas, although he has never moved away from the North East. His home with wife Margaret in Bucksburn has instead been a miniature Mecca for scientists and students from all over the world.”