Mr Geoffrey T. Banks (MSc Microbiology 1957)

Provided by Anthony Dickerson.

Geoff Banks, who died early this year after a long illness borne with great fortitude, was born in London but grew up in Worcester. He graduated in Botany at Exeter University in the mid-fifties. After a spell in the fermentation plant of distillers, he took a two year, MSc course in Microbiology at Imperial College; thereafter, he worked at Glaxo in Barnard Castle.

Late in 1963, he was appointed to the staff of Imperial College to manage the fermentation pilot plant in the new Department of Biochemistry, under the general direction of the Head of the Department, Professor E.B. Chain F.R.S. At the time, the Department, on Imperial College's South Kensington site was still under construction, so Geoff worked with Professor Chain at the Institute of Health in Rome where there was a large fermentation plant on which the one being built was modelled. The new Department was inaugurated in November 1965 and Geoff worked there until failing health forced his early retirement in 1992.

Until 1973, the Department was wholly postgraduate; graduates were trained by taught courses to MSc level in biochemistry and related subjects and by research to the PhD. From 1974, the MSc courses were replaced by undergraduate courses. Apart from overseeing the running of the fermentation plant, the organisation of its staff and allied functions, Geoff trained students at all levels in fermentation science and technology throughout his entire career at Imperial College. He was also a co-author of numerous papers on microbial products and on fungal viruses. Alone, some of these endeavours could be considered full-time, but Geoff effectively combined them.

For almost 30 years including some difficult periods, and latterly with diminishing personal mobility, he maintained an efficient, calm and diplomatic approach to his duties; he was unfailingly pleasant, polite and approachable whether for work or just a friendly word - even when clearly under pressure. An exemplary colleague and friend, Geoff will be missed by all those who knew him.