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Conference Patron: Bob McIntosh

Bob was born in 1939 in Gloucester New South Wales. All his formal university training was undertaken at the University of Sydney; BScAgr 1960, MScAgr 1963, PhD 1969 (Thesis title: Genetic and cytogenetic studies on resistance to flag smut in wheat).

Bob has continuous service with the University of Sydney involved in genetics and cytogenetics of disease resistance in wheat, concentrating on the rust diseases, from appointment as a Technical Officer in 1960 through to retirement from a Personal Chair as Professor of Cereal Genetics and Cytogenetics in 2000. These positions were continuously supported by industry funds. Bob continues at the University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute as an Honorary Professor. The "Cereal Rust Control Program" that he established and lead, has had a major economic benefit to Australian agriculture. It combines three elements; annual pathogenicity surveys of the cereal rusts, identification and genetic analyses of resistance sources and commercial cultivars, and germplasm screening and transfer of resistance genes and gene combinations to advanced lines for use or release by breeders.

Bob held visiting appointments at the University of Missouri (with Ernie Sears and WQ Loegering), at the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge, Kyoto University, Kansas State University, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, and Nanjing Agricultural University.

Bob is a long-term and continuous attendee of the International Wheat Genetics Symposia, starting at the 3rd, in Canberra, Australia, in 1963. At that Symposium he was appointed Coordinator of Gene Symbols for wheat. Bob has made a major contribution to wheat genetics, publishing over 100 journal and conference papers, and a book. The continuous annual updating, and full publishing of the Gene Catalogue associated with the International Wheat Genetics Symposia has been a major effort of Bob - starting before word processors! He was assisted in this for many editions by Gary Hart and Mike Gale, and more recently by, Katrien Devos, Yukiko Yamazaki, Jorge Dubcovsky, W Rogers , Rudi Appels and Olin Anderson.

Bob was awarded the Farrer Memorial Medal 1976, gave the Daniel McAlpine Lecture to the Australasian Plant Pathology Society 1985, was a Medalist and was appointed Fellow of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science in 1987 and 1988, gave the 1994 J.C. Walker Memorial lecture, University of Wisconsin, was elected Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 2000, received the E.C. Stakman Award from the University of Minnesota, St Paul, in 2002, and in 2003 a Centenary Medal awarded by the Australian Government for Service to Australian Society and Science in Genetics.