Roy Markham FRS[1] (29 January 1916 – 16 November 1979) was a British plant virologist who served as the fifth director of the John Innes Centre from 1967 until his death in 1979.

I always welcomed an excuse to exist momentarily at 70 °F (21 °C) even though I was never sure when Markham would start the conversation by saying how bad I looked, implying that if I had been brought up on English beer I would not be in my sorry state.

The idea of Francis and me dirtying our hands with experiments brought unconcealed amusement.He returned to work on the structure of plant viruses at the end of the 1950s.

[4] The John Innes Institute moved from Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire to Norwich, Norfolk in 1967, following its association with the newly-formed University of East Anglia (UEA).

Before the institute's move was completed, its director, Kenneth S Doods, resigned to take up a position with the Food and Agriculture Organization in Turkey.

[2] Markham also persuaded the trustees of the John Innes Foundation, which owned the land on which the institute was built, to provide a large lecture hall and recreational facilities, including a swimming pool, for the staff.