Gray, A.

Schalk, P.

Graellsia

English

Graellsia (E-Journal)

Graellsia, 67(2): 243-244julio-diciembre 2011ISSN: 0367-5041Necrológica / ObituaryFRANK AINLEY BISBY 1945 - 2011*P. Schalk1 & A. Gray2On the evening of 25 October the field of taxo-nomy and biodiversity informatics has lost one ofits most prominent champions. Frank Bisby sud-denly died at the age of 66. Although officially(reluctantly) retired and planning his succession,Frank was still very much in the middle of things.He was leading a cha-llenging EC funded e-infrastructure project,and closely involved inseveral others.Frank's name willforever be tied toSpecies 2000 and theCatalogue of Life. Thisvalidated index of theworld's species was hisdream, his ultimategoal in life for whichhe worked incrediblyhard, and traveled theworld at an unbelieva-ble pace. He relen-tlessly pointed out itsconcepts to the scienti-fic community andwith success. He wasconvincing in his views;he made his dream ourdream. Together weforged a global federation of independent organiza-tions, each with a unique and valuable contributionto a single jointly-owned product that now is con-sulted by millions of users yearly and forms thebackbone of many regional, national, and interna-tional biodiversity information systems. Almostcompleted, the Catalo-gue of Life counts 1.4million validated spe-cies names in a singlelist, created from theinput of over 100 pro-viding databases. 16years of hard work,crowned with success.Frank put taxonomyfirmly on the digitalmap, and demonstratedthat there is a clearneed and a market forit.The Catalogue ofLife is a product ofmany people. Taxono-mists all over the worldlabor on constructingand updating their uni-que databases, a joboften underestimatedand undervalued. They* On behalf of the Board of Directors of Species 20001 ETI BioInformatics, University of Amsterdam. Mauritskade 61. 1092 AD Amsterdam. The Netherlands.2 Computer Sciences, Cardiff University. Queens Buildings, 5 The Parade. Roath, Cardiff. UK CF24 3AA.09A. Necrológica_Bisby  20/12/11  18:22  Página 243244 Necrológica / ObituaryGraellsia, 67(2), Diciembre 2011, pp. 243-244 — ISSN: 0367-5041provide the core of it. Others contributed, just asimportant, with computer science, organization ormanagement skills, legal advice, product develop-ment, and outreach. In the past 15 years Frank crea-ted an international multidisciplinary family ofcontributors and collaborators who strongly belie-ved in their shared cause. He was very proud andvery fond of this family.  Despite the incredible number of hours he put inSpecies 2000 and the Catalogue of Life, Frank stillmanaged to fit in teaching. He always remainedclose to biology. He loved doing botanical fieldcourses with students and was a walking encyclo-pedia on legumes. He adored his cottage in thecountryside with his apple varieties.We had the privilege to work closely with Frankfor over 16 years. We have never met a man so dri-ven, so committed. His work was his life. Thesewere turbulent years, sometimes difficult butalways challenging, interesting and rewarding. Wedid not always agree, but I respected and admiredhim. The world has lost a great mind; we have losta good and dear friend. He will be missed andremembered.Recibido / Received, 24-11-2011Aceptado / Accepted, 28-11-2011Publicado impreso / Published in print, 30-12-201109A. Necrológica_Bisby  20/12/11  18:22  Página 244

Frank Ainley Bisby 1945 - 2011

https://graellsia.revistas.csic.es/index.php/graellsia/article/download/425/428

Frank Ainley Bisby 1945 - 2011

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