John F. Peberdy

John Frederick Peberdy (8 November 1937, Skegness – 14 May 2020) was a British mycologist, specializing in the biochemistry and genetics of fungi. He was a pioneer in research on fungal protoplasts.

Biography Peberdy grew up in the Bucknall area of Nottingham. He studied botany at King's College, Newcastle (then part of Durham University), where he developed a strong interest in fungi and microbiology. He then became a graduate student at the University of Nottingham, where he received his Ph.D. supervised by Charles Chesters with a dissertation on fungal biochemistry.

Throughout his career, Peberdy was interested in practical and commercial applications of mycology and biotechnology. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked briefly in Stevenage as a Scientific Officer at a Water Pollution Research Laboratory before he was appointed to a lecturership at Hull College of Technology and then in 1966 to a lectureship in microbiology at the University of Nottingham. There he was appointed in 1977 to a senior lectureship, in 1980 to a readership, and in 1984 to a professorial chair in botany. At the University of Nottingham, he was from 1996 to 1998 the head of the School of Life Sciences from 1996 to 1998 and an Emeritus Professor of Biotechnology and Enterprise in the Business School from 2004 to 2015, when he retired completely from academia. He did research on "genetics of fungal secondary metabolite production, antifungal agents, plant pathogens, edible mushrooms, and the biotechnology of exploitation by fungi of waste resources". Since 1992 the conference has been held every two years. Peberdy was one of the co-organisers of the ninth ECFG (ECFG9), which was held in 2008 in Edinburgh. Upon his death in 2020 he was survived by his widow and their daughter Caroline.

Selected publications Articles

Books (pbk reprint of 1980 1st edition)

(pbk reprint of 1994 1st edition)