Dr Gerry Webster pictured centre, 1968.
Dr Gerry Webster, who has died, was the first developmental biologist appointed to the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sussex.
He arrived after a PhD at Kings College London, supervised by Lewis Wolpert. His research examined regeneration in Hydra, a small sedentary freshwater polyp that attaches itself by its foot to a stone and has tentacled mouth parts for catching food. If its mouth is cut off, it grows a new one and also replaces its foot, should that be amputated. Hydra’s ability for endless regeneration makes it essentially immortal. The interesting developmental problem was to explain how Hydra knows which end of its body to regrow, and Gerry provided pioneering evidence for a gradient of positional information that instructed the cut end to re-form the appropriate tissue.
Gerry and Lewis Wolpert inspired Brian Goodwin, a hugely talented and charismatic theoretical biologist, then at Sussex, to think about cellular models that might explain the development of these structures. A partnership developed between Gerry and Brian that continued for many years. Both became increasingly sceptical that focusing narrowly on specific scientific problems is a route to understanding an interconnected world, and they gradually switched from empirical biology to theoretical and philosophical ideas about pattern and form.
The smudgy photo from 1968 shows Gerry in the centre and Brian on the right. It was taken during an interview published in the New Scientist. The third person on the left, Jonathan Cooke, was then a post-doc, attracted by Brian to developmental biology. His later research, at NIMR Mill Hill, closely combined empirical science and modelling as seen in his influential study of the role of oscillators in controlling the constant number of segments found in a vertebrate embryo, irrespective of its size.
The School of Biological Sciences in the ‘60s and ‘70s was a fascinating place. John Maynard Smith was its founding Dean and he appointed a very diverse set of teaching and support staff. Brian was the most radical, advocating new ways of running a school as well as teaching a novel first-year course in analytical biology. John was himself a mix of an erstwhile communist, a much-loved communicator in tea room, pub or lecture hall, and an outstanding scientist. He managed the School with humour, tact and support for all, faculty and students, with only occasional flashes of impatience and power. Jonathan recollects John confessing to him in a moment of gloom over the problems of keeping the School together, “I'm afraid I'm just a wishy-washy liberal 'don't know' these days”.
Claudio Stern, who was an undergraduate and then a research student with Brian in the ‘70s, remembers from that perspective his experiences of Gerry and the study of developmental biology. "Gerry was unusual in combining interests in developmental biology and regeneration with the history of science. His thinking was extremely deep and that was very inspiring."
He continues: "The dynamics of the School at the time was somewhat strange. There seemed to be a sharp separation between the Drosophila geneticists and some of the microbial geneticists/biochemists and the evo/devo-oriented groups (with which Gerry associated more). Partly this was due to differences in how they viewed the biological world, more reductionistic versus more holistic, but it was probably much more complex than this, with historical and even political undertones. But the diversity of opinions and approaches, of seminar speakers that came through, and the overall buzz of Sussex at the time was amazing. I feel now that I was not quite ready to take full advantage of all that at the time."
Gerry believed that students should be given the opportunities and tools to find their own intellectual path. Vernon French, who was his second and last PhD student, writes: "I have fond memories, his soft and rather sardonic voice and the fug of Gauloise ... He was amiable and always insightful in his comments but he was very ‘hands-off’ as a supervisor."
This same attitude to teaching was expressed in the human sciences major that Gerry led successfully for many years until he retired in 2000. It was a four-year degree course which took its students into almost every school in the University. Some years later, student numbers fell; four-year courses were not supported and the major closed.
Daniel Simon, a hums student between 1983 and 1988, found it an enthralling four years: "Although the major started with core courses in biology, it quickly diversified into anthropology, psychology, linguistics and philosophy. By the third and fourth year, students were largely selecting their own courses from across the University, including a self-created area of study where the first task was to find a tutor to supervise the subject. Aside from his benign oversight of this most interesting of majors, Gerry’s contribution was the course on Philosophy and the Human Sciences. He maintained an interest in his former students throughout his life, continuing to follow their research decades after they had left Sussex."
Many students were equally enthusiastic. Ruth Garland, a human sciences student from 1977–1981, wrote: "I became very fond of Gerry as a person and as a tutor with a wry sense of humour and a love of thinking and talking ... He would throw out an idea and wait for the response, even if there were moments of silence." Philip Jones, a student at the same time, added: "Gerry was a massive influence on me. About 15 years ago, I placed a brick in the pavement leading up to the Arts D building on campus, with the dedication: 'Gerry Webster : Bridge Builder’." Given this long-term and dedicated commitment to running a unique major, it seems remiss that the University did not promote Gerry. He remained a lecturer until he retired.
Carol Dyhouse, a close friend, says: "Gerry had many interests that he pursued in great depth. His love of music was central. Bartόk, Stravinsky, Mozart and Handel were lasting favourites, especially Bartόk, with whom he had a particular affinity.
"Plants were also very important to him. He tended them with an experimenter’s skill, growing rare varieties of cyclamen, hellebores and fritillaries in cold frames in his small back garden in central Brighton. He contributed articles on the cultivation of fritillaria to the Alpine Garden Society and many of his plants were of show standard.
"Among other passions were a deep appreciation of Romanesque sculpture and architecture; ethnomusicology and folklore; and a love of Yomut carpets and textiles from Turkmenistan.
"Gerry was a very private man, but gifted with an exceptionally sensitive imagination, a dark and wicked sense of humour, and a rich inner life."
Author: Thomas Collett, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex