Lives That Improved Life

LIVES THAT IMPROVED LIFE

Mary Rosalind Morris

Leaving the family farm near Forest, Ont., in 1938, Mary Rosalind Morris enrolled in horticultural studies at the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) with plans to become a tree fruit breeder. After completing her BSA in 1942, she continued grad studies in plant breeding at Cornell University. There, she got her first look at chromosomes under the microscope, an experience that changed her career plans.

Morris completed her PhD in genetics studies in 1946, becoming one of the first two women to receive a doctorate from Cornell’s plant breeding department. She accepted a faculty position at the University of NebraskaLincoln (UNL), becoming the first woman faculty member hired by the agronomy department, where she spent a 43-year-long career.

Early in her studies, she looked at the effects of radiation on crops including corn genes. Keen to improve her technical skills, she completed a fellowship at the California Institute of Technology in 1949-50. She also spent several months in 1956-57 on a Guggenheim scholarship in Sweden and England.

As a cytogeneticist with UNL’s wheat team, Morris developed and tested chromosome lines in bread wheat varieties. “This involved meticulous microscope observations by Rosalind and her assistants,” read her obituary. “Many of these lines were shared with wheat scientist in different countries.

“Rosalind was a trailblazer for women in agronomy when it was unusual to see women in such roles.”

Morris died March 26, 2022, just over a month before her 102nd birthday.

Born May 8, 1920, in Wales, she moved to Canada with her family in 1925. The move came after her father, a teacher, had contracted flu following the First World War; a doctor had advised him to find an outdoor occupation.

By 1930, the family was living on a fruit farm in Lambton County.

In 1997, she established the W. Penri Morris Memorial Scholarship at U of G, named for her brother, who was killed during the Second World War.

A longtime member of the Nebraska Academy of Scientists, Rosalind Morris belonged to the local branch of the American Association of University Women and to the St. David’s Society of Nebraska.

Her cytogenetics work continues to provide a resource for researchers studying functional genomics.

Rosalind Morris in the UNL wheat greenhouse in the 1970s.

AS A CYTOGENETICIST WITH UNL’S WHEAT TEAM, MORRIS DEVELOPED AND TESTED CHROMOSOME LINES IN BREAD WHEAT VARIETIES.

Albert Andrews, BA ’93, June 30, 2021 Koren Murray, B.A.Sc. ’94, April 2, 2021 Linda Taylor, DVM ’94, Oct. 30, 2021 Robert (Rob) Sexton, B.Comm. ’96; MA ’12, Nov. 17, 2021 Cindy Graham, B.Sc. ’97, Feb. 24, 2021 Dorothee Osmond, B.Sc. ’97; DVM ’02,

Aug. 8, 2021 Jennifer Cutler, B.Sc. ’98, May 13, 2021

2000s

Iris Mitten, BA ’01, Jan. 21, 2021 Kevin Finney, BA Hon. ’02, March 20, 2022 Melanie Freeman, MA ’02; PhD ’09, Nov. 12, 2021 Tiffany Redwood, B.Comm. ’06, Sept. 30, 2021 Jeffrey (Jeff) Beaton, MLA ’09, Sept. 29, 2021 Frank Hasenfratz, Hon. D.Sc. ’10, Jan. 9, 2022 Olabanji Akinola, MA ’11; PhD ’17, Jan. 10, 2022 Matthew (Matt) Kowalchuk, BA (Gen.) ’12,

Sept. 17, 2021 Cornelia Oberlander, Hon DLaw ’15, May 22, 2021 Shelbi Link, B.A.Sc. ’16, Oct. 24, 2021 Kaitlin Williams, B.Sc. ’18, Jan. 19, 2022 Nelia Scheeres, B.Sc. ’19, Aug. 16, 2021 Nathan Adams, BA ’20, Nov. 6, 2021 Katherine (Katie) McElweenie, B.Sc. ’21,

May 10, 2021 Garry Glowacki, BA Gen. ’21, Jan. 27, 2021 Manuel Gomez, D.Sc. ’21, June 8, 2021

To honour alumni who have passed away, the University of Guelph Alumni Association makes an annual donation to the Alumni Legacy Scholarship.

THE YEAR

1975

Caring for injured Gryphon athletes on campus brought Helen Clark and Fred Dunbar together in the early 1970s. A nurse, Helen worked in the student health centre. Fred joined the University in 1969 as the Gryphons athletic trainer.

Helen and Fred were married June 21, 1975. Pictured here with their wedding party before the Portico on Johnston Green, the couple are believed to have been the first to hold their wedding reception at the Arboretum Centre, opened in 1974.

In 1976, Fred became head of the Toronto Argonauts training staff. He was integral in bringing the CFL team to U of G for its training camps, still ongoing.

He died Nov. 18, 2021. On June 12, 2022, an athletic therapy room in the Gryphons football pavilion was named to honour his legacy. Fred was inducted into the Gryphon Hall of Fame as a builder in 1987.

Share your own campus special occasion photos at porticomagazine@uoguelph.ca.

ON CAMPUS

+ William Winegard ended his tenure as U of G president, begun in 1967. + Macdonald Stewart Hall was built to house what is now the School of

Hospitality, Food and

Tourism Management. + U of G’s Arkell Poultry

Research Centre opened. + The roughly 50-voice U of G touring choir visited

Europe with concerts in the Netherlands, Belgium and England.

OFF CAMPUS

+ Sony released its

Betamax video cassette recording (VCR) system. + The blockbuster film Jaws was released in June. + Ex-Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa disappeared. + NASA launched the

Viking I planetary probe toward Mars. + Saturday Night Live premiered with comedian

George Carlin as the inaugural host. + The beaver became an official symbol of

Canada.