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Lawrence Aldridge Wilson was born on
November 14th 1934 in Barataria. He attended San Juan Government
and Nelson Street Boys R.C. Primary Schools and St. Mary’s
College. He graduated with a B.Sc. degree (1957) and M.Sc.
degree in Botany (1960) from the University College of the West
Indies (UCWI). In 1964, he obtained a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology
from the University of Bristol. He joined the Ministry of Agriculture in 1964 and conducted
research on mineral nutrition of vegetable and tree crops. He
devised a fertiliser management system for farmers and a
hydroponic system using coconut fibred "dust" and slow release
fertilisers, which gave very high yields of tuber crops and
vegetables.
In 1967, he began lecturing in plant physiology/biochemistry at
the Faculty of Agriculture, UWI. He led the Root Crop Programme
that conducted critical research on tuberous crop biology
including early growth and tuberisation, methods for selecting
elite cultivars of yams and sweet potato, and methods for
extending dormancy in yams for up to 9 months. Some 70 joint
publications were produced as a result. He was appointed Professor of Crop Science (1975) and served as
faculty dean from 1981-1984 and 1988-1994. Under his stewardship
as dean, he established postgraduate training programmes in food
and nutrition and the Distance Education Teaching Programme in
Agriculture and Rural Development. He introduced the Caribbean
Agricultural Extension Programme, the Continuing Education
Programme in Agricultural Technology and the Certificate
Programme in Agriculture.
He was the first sub-Regional Representative of the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of Latin America and the
Caribbean (1965-1966) and served on the board of the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. He is
Editor-in-Chief of the journal Tropical Agriculture and serves
on the International Editorial Board of the journal Tropical
Science.
Professor Wilson has given over 20 years service to various
regional and national bodies including the Caribbean
Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI). He is a
Fellow of the Third World Academy of Science, Honorary Life
Member of the International Society for Tropical Root Crops, and
Honorary Life Member and current President of the Association of
Professional Agricultural Scientists of Trinidad and Tobago. |
