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In memory of Thomas Turpin Bannister (1930–2018)

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Abstract

Tom Bannister (1930–2018) was an extraordinary person and a remarkably productive scientist. He began his career studying the basics of photochemistry, biophysics, and biology of photosynthetic pigments and later moved on to primary production of algae. His publications on modeling of primary production rates in aquatic systems are among the most widely cited in the field of phytoplankton ecology. His scientific enthusiasm was contagious, and his knowledge of photosynthesis and phytoplankton ecology enabled him to wisely mentor an impressive group of graduate students. He encouraged his students to strike out on their own but was always supportive and caring. Tom had a great love of life and nature, and he had a wonderful sense of humor. His students and those with whom he interacted remember him with great fondness. We have included here remembrances from some of us as well as from Rich Dempsey; Michael (Mike) Johnson; Stephen Lien; Janet Pelley; Bruce Selman; and Rudy Slovacek.

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Fig. 1

Source: Horatio Bannister Photography

Fig. 2

Source: Bannister family archives

Fig. 3

Source: Govindjee’s archives

Fig. 4

Source: Richard Sauvain

Fig. 5

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to many who have helped us in collecting information on Tom and his research. The list is too long, but it includes Curtis Degasperi and Melissa S. Mead (University Archivist and Rochester Collections Librarian) of the University of Rochester; Ms. Mead provided us necessary information on the “Collected Works of Thomas T. Bannister”, produced in 1997 at the time of his retirement from the University. Govindjee thanks Rajni Govindjee, George Papageorgiou, and John Munday for reading an early draft of a part of this Tribute. Finally, all the authors are highly thankful to Robert Blankenship, Editor of this Tribute, for his valuable help in getting it reviewed and for getting it into production.

Funding

The preparation of this manuscript was supported by personal funds of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Edward Laws

  2. Every Day Joy Counseling Services LLC., Picayune, MS, 39466, USA

    Alan Weidemann

  3. 136 SW 58th Street, Cape Coral, FL, 33904, USA

    George Hoch

  4. P.O. Box 997, Troutman, NC, 28166, USA

    Horatio Bannister

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA

    Robert S. Knox

  6. Departments of Plant Biology and Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Govindjee

Authors
  1. Edward Laws
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  2. Alan Weidemann
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  3. George Hoch
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  4. Horatio Bannister
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  5. Robert S. Knox
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  6. Govindjee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Govindjee.

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Appendix

Appendix

Photosynthesis Center at Urbana, Illinois, USA

Govindjee

During 1947–1959, the ‘Photosynthesis Center’ (also known as the ‘Photosynthesis Project’) at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC) was jointly headed by Robert Emerson and Eugene Rabinowitch; it was the major World center for studying photochemistry and biophysics of photosynthesis. For the life and work of Emerson (1903–1959), see Rabinowitch (1959, 1961), Govindjee (2004), and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=equPwbdOC64, and for Rabinowitch (1901–1973), see Bannister (1972), Brody (1995), and Rabinowitch (2015). We note that Eugene’s year of birth was really 1898, and his name at birth was Evgenii lsaakovich Rabinovich. For both Emerson and Rabinowitch, see Govindjee (2004) and Ghosh (2004).

We would like all of us to remember a few others who are no more, who were trained at UIUC, and who were also contemporaries of Tom Bannister. They were Tom Punnett (1926–2008, a student of Emerson; see Hagar et al. 2011); Steve Brody (1927–2010, a student of Rabinowitch; see Hirsch et al. 2010) and Paul Latimer (1925–2011, a student of Rabinowitch; see Latimer et al. 2017). Bannister (PhD in 1958) was almost the last of the full-fledged students of Rabinowitch, except for Danny Rubinstein (PhD in 1964). The other three: Govindjee (PhD in 1960), Rajni Govindjee (PhD in 1961) and Carl N. Cederstrand (joint PhD with Rabinowitch & Govindjee in 1965) were really initially trained by Robert Emerson.

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Laws, E., Weidemann, A., Hoch, G. et al. In memory of Thomas Turpin Bannister (1930–2018). Photosynth Res 138, 129–138 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-018-0582-0

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