Kathleen Maisey Curtis
| Kathleen Curtis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 August 1892 Foxton, New Zealand |
| Died | 5 September 1994 (aged 102) Nelson, New Zealand |
| Fields | Mycology |
| Institutions | Cawthron Institute |
| Alma mater | Imperial College London |
| Thesis | (1919) |
| Doctoral advisor |
John Bretland Farmer Vernon Herbert Blackman |
| Known for | Plant pathology |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | K.M.Curtis |
| Spouse | Theodore Rigg (m. 1966; d. 1972) |
Kathleen Maisey Curtis, Lady Rigg (15 August 1892 – 5 September 1994) was a New Zealand mycologist and was a founder of plant pathology in New Zealand.
Curtis was born in Foxton on 15 August 1892 and was educated at Lyttelton West School from 1899 to 1902, Auckland Girls' Grammar School and Auckland University College. She graduated in 1914 with a BA with a Senior Scholarship in botany, and in 1915 was awarded an MA with first-class honours in botany. As a result of the high quality of her academic work she was awarded the 1851 Exhibition Scholarship. Curtis was also awarded the Orient Steam Navigation Company's travelling scholarship, which paid her fare to the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, and the National Research Scholarship, which she declined. As a result of these awards she was able to travel to London in 1915 to further her study. The Exhibition Scholarship was later extended.
Curtis was the first New Zealand woman to graduate with a DSc. Her degree was gained in 1919 at Imperial College London for research on the potato wart disease (Synchytrium endobioticum). She was awarded the Huxley Medal for her thesis research, which was cited as the most outstanding result in mycological research that had been presented for ten years. Curtis' research remains one of the classic contributions to plant pathology and one of the most significant early contributions to plant science made by a New Zealand researcher. At the time of its publication the research was a contribution to the world pool of knowledge but was not a direct contribution to New Zealand plant pathology because it was not until 1970 that the potato wart disease was recorded in New Zealand.
Curtis was a founding member of the Cawthron Institute. Although the Cawthron Institute was officially opened on 2 April 1921 Curtis had already accepted employment as mycologist in April 1920, working in the Department of Biology. Curtis would work for the Cawthron for the entirety of her career. In 1928 she was promoted to head of the newly formed Department of Mycology at Cawthron and, in 1929, attended the Imperial Mycological Conference in London. Her achievements were recognised by her election, in 1936, as the first woman fellow (later senior fellow) of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Curtis was also elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London for her contributions to botanical research. She represented Cawthron at the 1948 Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Hobart.
...
Wikipedia