Michael Goodfellow OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

(born 8 January 1941) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 in Microbial Systematics

Systematics

Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of terrestrial life, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees...

, specialising in actinobacteria

Actinobacteria

Actinobacteria are a group of Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content. They can be terrestrial or aquatic. Actinobacteria is one of the dominant phyla of the bacteria....

l taxonomy

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

. He earlier served as Head of the School of Biology in University of Newcastle upon Tyne

University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle University is a major research-intensive university located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the north-east of England. It was established as a School of Medicine and Surgery in 1834 and became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne by an Act of Parliament in August 1963. Newcastle University is...

. He is also the Chair of the Bergey's Manual Trust.

Education

Goodfellow was born in Ecclefechan

Ecclefechan

Ecclefechan is a small village in the south of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway.Ecclefechan lay in the early middle ages within the British kingdom of Rheged, and the name is derived from the Brythonic for "small church"...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and went to school at Carlisle Grammar School. He did both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Liverpool

University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

, graduating from PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in 1966. He took a Post Doctoral fellowship at Penn State, then as an MRC Junior Research Fellow at the University of Leicester

University of Leicester

The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....

. In 1969 he joined the then newly established University of Newcastle where he currently serves as Head of the School of Biology.

Goodfellow in Newcastle University

In Newcastle he established and developed courses in microbial systematics and biotechnology and managed the Microbial Resource Laboratory (MRC) for over 30 years. The MRC has and remains focussed on the development and application of state-of-the-art procedures designed to advance the systematics, ecology and commercialisation of actinobacteria.

Key achievements at the University of Newcastle include:

• Forty years research funding from sponsors such as the European Commission, Research Councils (BBSRC, ESRC, MRC and NERC), The British Council and industrial concerns, notably Glaxo Smith Kline, Novartis and Severn Trent Water (51 funded projects in total).

• Supervision of students who completed 62 PhDs., 4 M.Phils, and innumerable M.Sc's.

• International recognition for promoting actinobacterial biology and prokaryotic systematics, as exemplified by the award of international prizes, honorary degrees, and invitations to present keynote lectures at international symposia.

Owing to his contribution to microbial systematics, a bacterial genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

  of Actinobacteria

Actinobacteria

Actinobacteria are a group of Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content. They can be terrestrial or aquatic. Actinobacteria is one of the dominant phyla of the bacteria....

 was named after him as Goodfellowia.

Educationist

Apart from his research activities he was involved in development of education in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was appointed as a Governor for Gosforth High School

Gosforth High School

Gosforth Academy is an English secondary school in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. As well as having a sixth form department it is a specialist Language College...

 in 1974 and later elected the Chair of Governors in 1979. He held the post until his retirement in 2009. For his service in education he was named Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 New Years honours list.