Thomas William Walker ONZM (2 July 1916 - 8 November 2010) was an Anglo-New Zealand soil scientist. He was known as "Tom" or "John" or "Johnnie" after the Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch Whisky owned by Diageo and originated in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland.It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world, sold in almost every country with yearly sales of over 130 million bottles.-History:Originally known as Walker's...

 brand of whisky, or "Prof" to students and "Baba" to his family.

Born in Shepshed

Shepshed

Shepshed, often known until 1888 as Sheepshed, is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of around 14,000 people...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, he was educated at Loughborough Grammar School

Loughborough Grammar School

Loughborough Grammar School founded in 1495 by Thomas Burton, is an independent school for boys in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It is a day school for over 1100 pupils and a boarding school for nearly 100. It is one of three schools known as the Loughborough Endowed Schools, along with...

 and the Royal College of Science

Royal College of Science

The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Alumni include H. G. Wells and Brian May and are distinguishable by the letters ARCS ...

. He continued his career at Rothamsted Experimental Station

Rothamsted Experimental Station

The Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, is located at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England. It is now known as Rothamsted Research...

, University of Manchester

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...

 and for the National Agricultural Advisory Service. In 1952, he emigrated to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, to become the first professor of soil science at Canterbury Agricultural College. He returned to Britain in 1958, but came back to his 1960, taking up his old job at the soon to be renamed Lincoln College, New Zealand. He retired in 1979, becoming emeritus professor from then until his death in 2010. He was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2000.