Barrie Juniper (1932-2023)

St Catherine’s College is saddened to share the news that Dr Barrie Juniper, Emeritus Fellow, has died aged 90.

Dr Juniper was Emeritus Reader in Plant Sciences, Fellow by Special Election 1968–72, Fellow and Tutor in Botany 1972–99, Reader in Plant Sciences 1996–9, and had been an Emeritus Fellow since his retirement.

His connection to St Catherine’s began as an undergraduate in 1952. He then worked for the microscope laboratory of Plant Sciences before being recruited to review the garden plans of the yet-unfinished College grounds in 1962. After realising that the proposed plants would not survive the local soil—and after an infamous confrontation with Arne Jacobsen—he redrew the plans, working alongside Jacobsen to give the College its distinctive design today.

Dr Juniper was a pioneering botanist and geneticist with expertise in many areas, ranging from carnivorous plants to his famous interest in apples. An active researcher even after retirement, he was granted a Leverhulme Fellowship in 1996, allowing him to collect the DNA of wild apples in Central Asia. In 2006, he published ‘The Story of the Apple’, tracing the history of the apple from its earliest origins to today.

Through his involvement in the College gardens, his contribution to St Catherine’s is immeasurable. Barrie’s devotion to St Catherine’s; his generosity with colleagues, students, and friends; and life-long curiosity and adventurous spirit is remembered by all who knew him.