Retired from the Grain Research Lab, Canadian Grain Commission, June 30, 1995.

Don was born in Rossland, British Columbia and earned his B.Sc. Hons. (1959) in Biology and Botany and his M.Sc. (1961) in Biology and Botany from the University of British Columbia. In 1965 he earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and in the same year he started work as a research scientist in the barley section of the Grain Research Laboratory, Winnipeg. There, he developed a strong research program on barley and malt components (particularly enzymes) that had an impact on malt quality. This interest in malt quality and in devising meaningful and reliable methods to measure it were to remain with Don throughout his working life.

In 1974, Don became head of the Malting Barley Applied Research group at GRL and was responsible for evaluating the malting quality of breeders' lines in the Cooperative and Collaborative barley trials. Through these activities and his active participation in the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain, and its predecessors (he was secretary from 1974-79) and chairman from 1980-94 of the barley and oat quality sub-group), he was an important member of malting barley development teams in western Canada. Through his approach to malting barley evaluation and advice to plant breeders, he played an important role in the successful development of 2-rowed malting barleys on the Canadian prairies. These cultivars in the form of both barley and malt are exported widely and enhance significantly the export earnings of Canadian agriculture.

Don participated actively in several scientific societies, was associate editor of AACC (1976-80) and an adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba (1975-81). He was particularly active in the District Western Canada section of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA); he was chairman of the section, housing chairman for several Winnipeg conventions and presented technical papers at annual meetings. Don was also a lecturer for several years at the MBAA Short Course on malting and brewing science held in Madison, Wisconsin.

Don was generous with his advice and with his time and was a member of the Technical Committee of the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute (1974-95) a, member of the Manitoba Community Services Council (1985-91) and a member of the Biological Technology Advisory Committee of the Red River Community College (1984-91).

Don retired in 1995 after a long and active career during which he enriched, and made significant contributions to, the malting barley industry in western Canada.
 

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