Kenneth H. Mann (August 15, 1923 – January 24, 2010) received the first Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography in 1994.
He studied in Dovercourt and at age 11 he was awarded a scholarship to the local high school, but six years into that – due to World War II – he was evacuated to an inland village with his students.
Mann started his teacher training course at St. Luke's College, Exeter, but again due to the war he was transferred in 1942 to Cheltenham to complete studies there.
According to one of them, Peter Wells, "he [Mann] was very kind to me as a young scientist working at the Marine Ecology Laboratory of Bedford Institute of Oceanography in the early 1980s, stopping to talk and showing interest in my research experiments on oil pollution.
What always impressed me about Ken was his huge ability to write such thoroughly researched syntheses of complex marine ecology topics, and his constant work ethic, being often in the Library at BIO for many years after official retirement.
Through more than 150 research publications and textbooks, he has enriched our knowledge of detrital food webs, decomposition processes, kelp bed ecology, fish production, coastal zone management, and energy flow in marine ecosystems."