Prance Ghillean T.

Prance is a Trustee of the Eden Project in Cornwall, and vis. professor at Reading U. He obtained his BA in botany (Oxford, 1960) and DPhil (1963). He began his career with The New York Botanical Garden as a research assistant, becoming senior vice president for science in 1981. He also set up the Garden's Inst. of Economic Botany of which he was the first director from 1981-1988. From 1988 to 1999, he was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He was knighted in 1995, holds hon. doctorates from 15 universities and is a member of several science academies. Honours include: Ordem Nacional do Mérito Cientifico, Grã-Cruz, Brazil, 1995; Internatl. Cosmos Prize, 1995, Order of the Southern Cross, Brazil, 2000; Lifetime Discovery Award, Royal Geographical Society and the Discovery Channel, 1999; Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration, 2000; Order of the Rising Sun, Japan, 2012.