Ron Douglas pays tribute to Dr Gary Baker

Ron Douglas, professor of visual science, City University, pays tribute to Dr Gary Baker, senior lecturer in the Department of Optometry & Visual Science, City University London.

'I first came across Gary on the rugby field almost 40 years ago when we were both undergraduates at the University of Sussex. After obtaining a BSc in Experimental Psychology in 1976, he briefly left academia to manage a restaurant on the Kings Road, Chelsea. During this time, when rugby was still an amateur game, he played at a level that would now be professional in his beloved Wales. Requiring more of an intellectual challenge, Gary soon returned to science, obtaining an MSc in Neurophysiology in 1981 and a PhD from London Guildhall University on "the gustatory system of cypinoid fish" in 1987.