Emmett M. Hall, University Chancellor, making presentation of an honourary Doctor of Laws degree to Dr. Clayton O. Person at Convocation held at Centennial Auditorium.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Clayton Oscar Person (1922-1990) is recognized internationally as an authority on the genetics of host-parasite relations. He was born in 1922 in Aylesbury, Saskatchewan. After service overseas in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1941-1945, he returned to enroll at the University of Saskatchewan where he was awarded Honours in Biology in 1950 and earned an MA in 1951. Dr. Person’s writings made a major contribution to the development of a rigorous theoretical basis for understanding of how the genetic structure of parasitic populations interacts with that of their host populations. This was known as the gene-for-gene relationship. His theoretical methods have been applied widely in the practical management of parasitic diseases in agriculture and forestry. Dr. Person was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1970, and was designated Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 1981. He was awarded the British Columbia Science Secretariat Medal in 1981, the Flavelle Medal by the Royal Society of Canada and the Medal of the Genetics Society of Canada, both in 1982. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1986. Dr. Person died in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1990.