Brian Follett
This article is an autobiography or has been extensively edited by the subject or by someone connected to the subject. (June 2020) |
This poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Brian Follett" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2010) |
Sir Brian Follett FRS DL | |
---|---|
Born | 22 February 1939 | (age 85)
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Bristol (BSc, PhD) |
Known for | Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick 1993–2001; Chairman of the TDA (Training and Development Agency for Schools) 2003–2009; Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council 2001–2009; nonstipendiary professor Department of Zoology, University of Oxford 2001–2019. Professor and Chair, Biological Sciences, University of Bristol 1978–1993. |
Awards | Elected to the Royal Society (1984) Frink Medal (1993), Zoological Society of London (ZSL) Scientific Medal (1976), Society of Endocrinology Dale Medal (1988) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Zoology, biochemistry, seasonal breeding and clocks in birds and mammals |
Institutions | University of Oxford (Department of Zoology) |
Sir Brian Keith Follett
Education and early life
Follett was educated at
Career and research
In 1964 Follett moved to
He moved to Warwick in 1993 as Vice-Chancellor.[4]
Research programmes
Follett's studies used, as
In 1978 as the Chair of Zoology at Bristol, his research interest included mammals, notably sheep, and occasionally wild birds such as albatrosses, swans, gulls and partridges. Key studies included:
(a) The development of a rapid photoperiodic response system:
The research group followed the neural and endocrine changes as photoinduction as it occurred in real time. The first overt change when quail are exposed to a single long day is a rise in LH secretion at about hour 20. This model was applied: to show definitively the circadian nature of the photoperiodic clock and its complex properties as an oscillator, to measure (with Russell Foster) the action spectrum for the non-retinal light receptors, and in many studies to determine the timed sequence of neural changes as induction occurred. Subsequently, Takashi Yoshimura in Japan used the quail to investigate these changes in molecular terms and was able to connect these into the separate discoveries that thyroid hormones play a critical role in the photoperiodic response (see below).
(b) The termination of seasonal reproduction (refractoriness):
The photoperiodic response that long days (or short days in sheep) can not only induce reproductive maturity but also end it. The gonads suddenly collapse and this has evolved as a means of ensuring each species has an optimal but limited time to breed each year. The term refractoriness is used since the animal becomes refractory to the prevailing photoperiod. The Bristol group found, quite counterintuitively, that thyroid hormones are critical for refractoriness to develop and be maintained. This had been tentatively suggested in the Soviet Union prior to WWII but was developed by Trevor Nicholls, Arthur Goldsmith and Alistair Dawson. In simple terms, removal of the thyroid glands stopped refractoriness developing in starlings (and other birds) as well as sheep, and the animals remained in breeding condition perpetually and were not photorefractory. Thyroid hormone replacement reinstates the refractory state. Importantly birds are hatched in a refractory state but this is ended by removing the thyroid glands (per Tony Williams). The research group published papers on the concept which has become established in the understanding of the photoneuroendocrine pathway.
Funding came from the Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC), later renamed the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and Follett's group became a research council Research Group on Photoperiodism and Reproduction, with 413 scientific papers and reviews.[6]
Academic administration
Follett was Head of the Department of
Follett was appointed to the Council of the AFRC/BBSRC and then to the UFC (Universities Funding Council) and its subsequent body – HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England). He served on the Council of London Zoo (and Bristol Zoo) and as a Trustee of the Natural History Museum. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1984 and volunteered as the Biological Secretary for six years, making changes to the organisation and extending the Royal Society University Fellowship scheme. He was knighted in 1992.
In 1992 he was appointed to the Vice-Chancellorship at the University of Warwick and led it from 1993 until 2001. The University improved its ranking in the published league tables with strengths in Engineering (Warwick Manufacturing Group), Mathematics, Economics, Sociology and the Humanities. The Warwick Research Fellowships began as an annual £10m scheme in 1994, to attract the brightest young researchers in the UK and abroad. Success was seen in the Research Assessment Exercises of 1996 and 2001. £100m of capital building was undertaken. Warwick is a founding member of the Russell Group. It opened a graduate-entry medical school in 2001, President Clinton, with Prime Minister Blair, visited the university and gave a valedictory speech on foreign policy.[citation needed]
Follett has chaired committees for the UK government including reporting on the future of university libraries,[10] research in the humanities, and the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 2001;[11] and on the management and appraisal of clinical academics (following the AlderHey scandal).
Once retired, he took on the role of chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2001–2009,[8] and chaired the government's Teacher Training Agency (TTA) and its successor body the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) from 2004 to 2010. It aimed to resolve teacher training recruitment and to develop the concept of the teaching assistant. Follett is a non-stipendiary visiting professor in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford (2001–2019) teaching physiology to undergraduates. He was a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (2008–2018), and is president of the Stratford Civic Society.[12]
Honours
- Elected to the Royal Society in 1984.
- Knighted in 1992.
- Awarded 13 honorary doctorates and other awards.
Personal life
Follet married Deb Booth, a teacher in 1961, who later worked with radio and as the production editor for the journals of the Society for Endocrinology. Their daughter Karen Williams is at BC Women's Hospital in Vancouver and son Richard Follett is on the faculty at the University of Sussex.[13]
References
- ^ "Follett, Sir Brian (Keith)," Who's Who 2020, Oxford University Press, accessed June 3, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U16020
- ^ "Brian Follett". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Training and Development Agency for Schools annual report and accounts 2008 to 2009". GOV.UK. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ a b c "History". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ B.K.Follett, C.G. Scanes & F.J. Cunningham (1972). A radioimmunoassay for avian luteinizing hormone. J. Endicronol. 52: 359–378.
- ^ Web of Science, https://app.webofknowledge.com/author/record/133782
- ^ "History of the School," School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, accessed June 3, 2020, http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/biology/documents/History%20of%20the%20School.pdf
- ^ a b James Herbert, Creating the AHRC (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008) 100.
- ^ "People". www.biology.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Joint Funding Council's Libraries Review Group: Report". www.ukoln.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ISBN 0854035796)
- ^ "Stratford Society". www.stratfordsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Richard Follett," University of Sussex, accessed June 5, 2020, https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p108452-richard-follett