Anderson, John Ansel, 1903- : J.A. Anderson, cereal chemist and scientific administrator, was born in Sidcup, Kent, U.K., 16 August 1903. After completing his schooling there, he emigrated to Canada and took up farming in Alberta. In 1923 he entered the Olds School of Agriculture and in 1924 the University of Alberta where he received his B.Sc. (1926) and M.Sc. (1928). He did post-graduate training in England and Germany. From 1930-1939 Anderson was a biologist for the Division of Applied Biology, National Research Council in Ottawa. He did research on rust resistance in wheat and the malting qualities of barley. In 1939 he joined the Grain Research Laboratory in Winnipeg of the Board of Grain Commissioners as Chief Chemist and Director. During his twenty-three years there, Anderson expanded the nature and functions of the laboratory to include both pure and applied research and provided new services to farmers such as the protein analysis of grain crops and projections for each year's crop.
In 1962 Anderson briefly headed the Winnipeg Research Station of the Canadian Department of Agriculture before becoming Director General of the Research Branch of the department in Ottawa. During his tenure of the largest research organization in Canada, Anderson reorganized the management of research and developed multidisciplinary agriculture professor in plant science at the University in Manitoba to develop a protein grading system for Canadian grains which was accepted by the Canadian Wheat Board. Anderson remained there three years before moving to British Columbia.
Anderson has produced more than 140 scientific and technical articles on durum wheat, bread, barley and grain testing equipment. He also has written papers on producing scientific articles, including portions of the Canadian Government Style Manual (1962) with N.W. Thistle. He has been awarded honorary degrees and won many awards including the Osborne Medal of the American Association of Cereal Chemists (1957), the presidency of several grain chemistry associations and the Centennial Medal (1967).
