About Mike Wingfield
Michael John Wingfield is a South African academic and scientist who studies plant pathology and biological control. He was the founding director of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, University of Pretoria. Wingfield has authored or co-authored over 1,000 scientific publications and is considered a leading expert in the field of forest health and invasive species. He has received numerous awards and honours throughout his career, including Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award and John Herschel Medal, the highest accolade from the Royal Society of South Africa. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and the African Academy of Sciences. Wingfield has had several fungi named after him. While working at the Plant Protection Research Institute of Stellenbosch University, Wingfield started the country's first forest pathology research programme in 1978. FABI was founded in 1998 due to Wingfield's work in 1990 to create the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme. Racheliella wingfieldiana Crous & U.Braun (2018) was named after his first grandchild, Rachel. Wingfield also graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2008.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.