John Yaldwyn
John Cameron Yaldwyn was a New Zealand carcinologist who made significant contributions to the study of New Zealand crustacea and was the director of the National Museum of New Zealand, leading that institution from 1980 to 1989, prior to its reformation as Te Papa.
Early life and education
John Yaldwyn was born in Wellington to John Bradley Yaldwyn, a barrister and chairman of the Local Government Commission, and Flora Morison Yaldwyn. From an early age his interest in natural history was fostered by the local environment of eastern Wellington.From 1949 to 1958 Yaldwyn studied zoology at Victoria University under the parasitologist and ichthyologist L. R. Richardson. His MSc and PhD theses on New Zealand shrimps and prawns were published in 1954 and 1959.
Career
In 1954 Yaldwyn was a member of the 1954 Chatham Islands expedition where he studied crustacea. He returned to the Dominion Museum as Assistant Director in 1969. The Dominion Museum was renamed the National Museum of New Zealand in 1973, and Yaldwyn became its Director in 1980.He retired as Museum Director in 1989. He continued working at Te Papa as an Honorary Research Associate until shortly before his death, managing to finish several projects that been started earlier in his career.