Nicholson, Max

Max (Edward) Nicholson was born July 12, 1904, in County Dublin, Ireland. From his early years he was encouraged in his love of nature and became an active ornithologist. His first career, however, involved writing on socio-economic affairs; he was the first Director of the Political and Economic Planning (PEP) 'think tank,' and rose to high rank in the British Civil Service during the Second World War. He later changed careers and became active in environmental causes. He was a co-founder of the World Wildlife Fund along with Julian Huxley, Peter Scott, and Guy Mountfort. He was also a staunch supporter of the International Union for Conservation, and was instrumental in creation of the government-sponsored Nature Conservancy (now English Nature), of which he served as director-general from 1952-66. He died in London on April 26, 2003, at the age of 98. Excerpted from the Encyclopedia Britannica and from a report of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation [The World Conservation Union]).

Excerpted from the Encyclopedia Britannica and from a report of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation [The World Conservation Union]).

Sir Julian Huxley was born June 22, 1887 in London. He died Feb. 14, 1975 in London. "Julian, a grandson of the prominent biologist T.H. Huxley and the oldest son of the biographer and man of letters Leonard Huxley, was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, and saw service during World War I. His scientific researches included important work on hormones, developmental processes, ornithology, and ecology. He worked for some years at the Rice Institute in Houston, Texas; became professor of zoology at King's College, London University; served for seven years as secretary to the Zoological Society of London, transforming the zoo at Regent's Park and being actively involved in the development of that at Whipsnade in Bedfordshire; and became a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1919 he married Marie Juliette Baillot, daughter of a Swiss lawyer, by whom he had two sons: Anthony Julian Huxley, who conducted valuable operational research on aircraft, became an authority on exotic garden plants, and produced the standard encyclopaedia on mountains, and Francis Huxley, who became a lecturer in social anthropology at Oxford. Julian Huxley was the first director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1946–48. He was knighted in 1958. A biography The Huxleys by Ronald W. Clark was published in 1968."

On February 14, 1975, at the age of 87, Sir Julian Huxley died.

Excerpted from "Huxley, Sir Julian." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9041655> [Accessed August 11, 2005].

From the guide to the Max Nicholson and Julian Huxley papers MS 54., c. 1927-1980s, (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX)