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Robert McCredie May, Baron May of Oxford

(1936-2020), Zoologist, ecologist and scientific adviser

Sitter in 3 portraits
Robert May held a Professorship in the Department of Zoology jointly at Oxford University and Imperial College, London. Australian-born, he was Chief Scientific Adviser to the British Government, Head of the UK Office of Science and Technology (1995-2000) and President of the Royal Society (2000-2005). His work as a research scientist dealt with factors influencing the abundance of plant and animal species and with the rates, causes and consequences of extinction. He was knighted in 1996 and made a peer in 2001.

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Robert McCredie May, Baron May of Oxford

by Tom Phillips
oil on panel, 2005
NPG 6825

Robert McCredie May, Baron May of Oxford

by Polly Borland
C-type colour print, September 1999
NPG x88444

Robert McCredie May, Baron May of Oxford

by Norman McBeath
bromide print, 18 August 2000
NPG x88768

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Polly Borland: Australians

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Robert McCredie May, Baron May of Oxford

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