John Webster (25 May 1925 – 27 December 2014) was an internationally renowned mycologist and head of biological sciences at the University of Exeter in England.
He is recognised for determining the physiological mechanism underpinning fungal spore release, though is probably best known by students of mycology for his influential textbook, Introduction to Fungi.
In 1969 he was appointed professor and head of department in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter, where he remained until his retirement in 1990.
[2] As an educator, John Webster's undergraduate teaching classes introduced many students to the world of fungi, some of whom went on to become leading mycologists or academics in their own right, including Lynne Boddy, Alan Rayner, Naresh Magan (all past presidents of the British Mycological Society) and Nick Talbot.
Webster's greatest contribution to the science of mycology was in determining the mechanism for fungal spore discharge in basidiomycetes using high-speed video microscopy, which he and his team at Exeter University perfected in the 1980s.