Professor James (Jimmy) R. Todd
8th May 1924 - 7th September 2021
The death has taken place of Professor Jimmy Todd. He was 97 and died peacefully on 7th September in Tullywest Manor care home. His wife of over 70 years pre-deceased him in March 2019.
Professor Todd, born on 8th May 1924 to John and Edith Todd, was the youngest of three children and came from Boardmills, where the Todd family have lived for many generations and are well known.
He won Belfast City Scholarships to RBAI (Inst) and then Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), where he was awarded a double first-class honours degree in Agriculture and Chemistry. He then gained a Masters in Agriculture at Cambridge University and, later a PhD from QUB.
He was awarded a Colonial Scholarship to Kenya in 1948 and spent six years there researching animal nutrition and then tea growing. Returning to Northern Ireland in 1955 he continued animal nutrition research at the Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dundonald, becoming a world authority on trace element deficiencies in farm animals, including hypomagnesaemia (grass staggers).
In 1968 he spent a year at West Virginia University as a visiting professor and was appointed Professor of Agriculture and Food Science at QUB in 1970, from where he retired in 1984. He continued animal nutrition research for three summers at Penn State University in the USA and was an Academic Assessor for senior appointments to QUB.
He had a life-long interest in rugby, playing for Inst, Queen’s University, Instonians, Queens’ College Cambridge, the Cambridge University seconds and London Irish. In Kenya he played for the Nairobi team and captained the first East African team to tour Northern Rhodesia.
He had a wide range of interests and committed himself to all of them. A keen bird watcher, he was the NI Chair of the RSPB and President of the Copeland Bird Observatory. A lover of classical music, he was on the board of the Ulster Orchestra for many years. He was a founder member of Saintfield Heritage Society and was its Chair and, later, its President for many years. He never forgot the good start to his academic career provided by Inst and was an enthusiastic member of Instonians for nearly 80 years, including being President of the Association.
The home he shared with his beloved wife, Helen, for nearly 65 years was known by family and friends as the most welcoming place for gatherings, always resounding with fun and laughter.
He will be greatly missed by his children, Martyn, Susan and Catherine and the wider family circle, including eight grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
Martyn Todd
October 2021
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