Reinhart Langer

Reinhart Hugo Michael Langer (17 January 1921 – 3 August 2018) was a New Zealand botanist. He was an academic at Lincoln College (now Lincoln University) for over 25 years, and served as its acting principal from 1984 to 1985.

Early life, family, and education Born in Upper Silesia (at that time part of Germany, now in Poland) on 17 January 1921, Langer grew up in Berlin where he moved with his mother and two siblings after the death of his father, a judge, when Reinhart was aged three years. In 1939, Langer fled to England with his sister. He also conducted research into wheat, and served as a member and chair of the national Wheat Research Committee. With George Hill he wrote the book Agricultural Plants, published in 1982, that became a standard text for the teaching of plant science. and in 1978, he received the Leonard Cockayne Lecture Award from the Royal Society of New Zealand. Following his retirement from Lincoln, Langer was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to agricultural education. In 1990, he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In 2005, Langer was conferred an honorary DSc by Lincoln University. He was also a fellow of both the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science, and the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science.