Professor Maurice O. Moss: a tribute
25 November 2025
The Microbiology Society was saddened to learn of the recent death of Professor Maurice O. Moss, a long term member of the Society, having first joined in 1961.
Maurice Osburn Moss was born on 18 April 1937 in Plumstead, near Woolwich. He attended East Wickham County Primary School, then passed his 11+ and was awarded a free place at Eltham College. He went on to university, studying Chemistry at Imperial College in London (1955-1958), then stayed on to do a PhD entitled “The effect of certain members of the Citric Acid Cycle on the growth and sporulation of Chaetomium globosum” (1958-1961).
Maurice worked at Beecham Research Laboratories in Betchworth from 1961 to 1964, contributing to research on the mould Penicillium. He then moved to the Tropical Products Institute, where he worked for four years researching toxins produced by the fungus Penicillium rubrum, elucidating their chemical structure. This was the beginning of his life’s work on Mycotoxins–toxins produced by moulds that cause food spoilage.
In 1968, Maurice became a lecturer in the Microbiology department of the University of Surrey. Initially in Battersea, before moving to the campus at Guildford once the new Microbiology department was completed. He continued there as a lecturer, then senior lecturer, until his retirement in 1997, after which he still seemed to be giving 9 o’clock lectures for several years as an Emeritus Professor.
Throughout his teaching career, Maurice continued to be at the forefront of research on Mycotoxins, supervising PhD students and writing many papers and chapters in books. With Professor John E. Smith of the University of Surrey, he translated and edited Industrial Applications of Microbiology by Jacques Rivière (1977). He also translated and added to Moulds, Toxins and Foods by Claude Moreau (1979). He wrote a classic textbook on Mycotoxins with Professor John E. Smith of Strathclyde University (1985), with whom he also edited 'The Applied Mycology of Fusarium,' a British Mycological Symposium volume (1984).
In the 1970s, Maurice also became interested in Diatoms; we had family outings to collect them from the River Wey. These unicellular algae are unique in having a cell wall made of silica—they are intricately shaped tiny glass boxes. He published many papers on diatoms, illustrated with beautiful SEM photographs. This interest led to research on other freshwater microorganisms: with Dawn Austin he named a newly discovered bacterial genus, Rugamonas.
From 1973, Maurice was a key organiser of 'An international advance in food microbiology,' a three-week, biennial course held at the University of Surrey, attracting participants from all over the world. We used to go to the course dinners, with after-dinner speeches about food poisoning. With his colleague, Martin Adams, they wrote the standard textbook on Food Microbiology, now in its 5th edition.
He even made an appearance on TV as a Fungal Toxicologist in an episode of a TV series, 'Secrets of the Dead,' about ergot poisoning and the Salem Witch Hunts, filmed in the microbiology laboratories at the University of Surrey. After it aired on TV, some of his colleagues phoned to reprimand him for not wearing a lab coat!
Alongside his work at the University, Maurice was deeply involved in several scientific and conservation organisations. He was a long-standing member of the Quekett Microscopical Club from 1969 to 2025, serving as President and later being made an Honorary Member. He was a member of the British Mycological Society, serving on committees (the BMS awarded him its prestigious Benefactor’s Medal), the Society for General Microbiology (now Microbiology Society) and the Society for Applied Microbiology (now Applied Microbiology International). He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a supporter of the Natural History Museum and a member of Butterfly Conservation. Locally, he was a long-term member of Surrey Wildlife Trust and an Honorary Member of both the West Weald Fungus Recording Group and the Friends of Warnham Local Nature Reserve.
For many of these, he led Fungal Forays, encouraging hundreds of participants to take an interest in fungi. He regularly helped with practical conservation locally. He also gave talks to many societies, locally and far afield, attended conferences all over the world, and ran regular holiday fun microscopy sessions for children.
Maurice also found time to be an accomplished artist. He was a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and for many years a member of the Dorking Group of Artists, often selling his works in their exhibitions. He filled the house with beautiful paintings, most of them with a mathematical and natural history theme. For relaxation, he read math books!
In addition to his busy career, which often filled his days and evenings, and his many commitments to scientific societies and service as a governor at two schools, Maurice also found time for his family. He leaves a widow, Judith, to whom he had been married for 63 years; daughter Helena; son William; and five grandchildren.