Parr Tate
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Parr Tate | |
|---|---|
.png) Tate in 1969 | |
| Born | 27 April 1901 County Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 7 November 1985 (aged 84) Cork, County Cork, Ireland |
| Education | University College Cork (MSc) Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology |
| Occupation | Parasitologist |
Parr Tate (27 April 1901 – 7 November 1985) was an Irish parasitologist, particularly known for his research on malaria. He spent his entire academic career in Cambridge, England, where he was Reader in Parasitology (1949–68) and head of the Department of Parasitology at the University of Cambridge, director of the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology (1953–68), and one of the founding fellows of what is now Wolfson College, Cambridge. He was the editor of the journal Parasitology (1952–68).
Tate was born in County Cork on 27 April 1901.[1][2] He had severe whooping cough as a child; this required him to be educated at home and resulted in asthma, from which he never recovered.[1] As a child he bred canaries, winning prizes with them at shows;[1][3] Malcolm Peaker suggests this might have contributed to his asthma.[3] In 1920, Tate went up to University College, Cork, of the National University of Ireland, where he graduated in zoology and botany (1923) and then gained an MSc (1924).[1][2]
In 1924, after being awarded a Travelling Scholarship, he moved to Cambridge to study for a PhD at the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology under the supervision of George H. F. Nuttall;[1][2][4] he spent the rest of his career there.[1] In 1949, Tate was appointed Reader in Parasitology,[5] and in 1953, succeeded David Keilin as the director of the Molteno Institute, remaining in the position until his retirement in September 1968.[1][2][6] He was also head of the university's Department of Parasitology.[7] Tate served as editor of the journal Parasitology from 1952 to 1968 (with Keilin until his death in 1963).[2][6] In 1965, he was one of the founding fellows of University College (now Wolfson College).[1]
He was interested in natural history, and for three decades, visited Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales during the summer vacation, with the biochemist Malcolm Dixon and his sister, Lilian Tate.[1][8] In retirement, he continued to keep a house in Cambridge but spent part of his time with Lilian in Cork.[1][3] He died in Cork on 7 November 1985.[1][2]