Margaret Keay

Margaret Agnes Keay
OBE
Margaret Agnes Keay OBE
Born	11 June 1911; Pretoria, South Africa
Died	26 October 1998 (aged 87); Cambridge, England
Education	University of Cape Town; Newnham College, Cambridge;
	Scientific career
Institutions	University of Reading; Makerere University; Ahmadu Bello University; Wye College;

Margaret Agnes Keay

OBE (11 June 1911 - 26 October 1998), was a South African-born British phytopathologist

. She played a role in the development of educational institutions in Africa through activism and financial programmes focusing on education of girls and women in Africa.

Life and career

South Africa

Keay was born on 11 June 1911 in

Cape Town University.^[1]

England

In 1934 she became a research student in

Second World War where she worked with the Commonwealth Potato Collection^[1] (now held at the James Hutton Institute^[2] and Svalbard Global Seed Vault^[3]

).

At this time women were only allowed to attend either Girton College or Newnham College at Cambridge. Keay joined a lobby group to have more of the colleges open to women. New Hall and Lucy Cavendish, both female only colleges, were subsequently opened.^[1]

Uganda

In 1954, she went to Uganda, and was appointed as reader in agricultural botany at the Faculty of Agriculture of Makerere College (now Makere University) in Kampala and became head of department in 1960. She was appointed dean of the faculty of agriculture in 1962. During her time in Uganda she assisted in establishing a bursary fund for the secondary education of girls in Uganda. She was also a member of the Uganda Foundation for the Blind.^[1]

Nigeria

In 1964, she moved to Nigeria where she was appointed senior plant

pathologist of the Institute for Agricultural Research at Ahmadu Bello University. She lectured in climatology; plant morphology and pathology; and the botany of East African crop plants. From 1968 she was appointed professor and head of department of crop protection.^[1]

Return to England

In 1971, at age 60, Keay retired from Ahmadu Bello University and moved to Wye College becoming dean of women students.^[1] The next year she was awarded an OBE.^[4] and after retirement in 1976 joined the Department of Applied Biology at Cambridge until its closure in 1989. She died at Cambridge in 1998.^[1]

References

^
Independent.co.uk
. 14 November 1998.
^ "Commonwealth Potato Collection". James Hutton Institute. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
^ "Commonwealth Potato Collection seeds deposited in Global Seed Vault". The Hutton Group. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
^ "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE" (PDF). The London Gazette. 1 January 1972. p. 19. Retrieved 28 February 2019.

External links

Collegiate Girls School, Port Elizabeth website

[Indep-1] 
Independent.co.uk
. 14 November 1998.

[Hutton-2] "Commonwealth Potato Collection". James Hutton Institute. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

[Svalbard-3] "Commonwealth Potato Collection seeds deposited in Global Seed Vault". The Hutton Group. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

[Gazette-4] "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE" (PDF). The London Gazette. 1 January 1972. p. 19. Retrieved 28 February 2019.

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