The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
Delete - not WP:BIO; Wikipedia is all about links and references to evidence notability.Energyhelen (talk) 06:25, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - MBE recipient, author of multiple books, creator of multiple plant varieties and founding head-of-department at Massey. Note: I have COI here, I'm the subject's grandson. Stuartyeates (talk) 06:31, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comment This article has previously been discussed here. I have also taken the liberty of attempting to repair the nomination template, since it seemed broken Stuartyeates (talk) 08:44, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. This article needs cleaning up, but I think the subject is notable and meets WP:PROF. He was founding head of department in a major university for Agriculture. He was awarded the MBE for service to Horticulture. --Bduke(Discussion) 09:27, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Clearly notable per Stuartyeates, and I have no COI here; this is the first time I've heard of the man. The article could do with tidying up and more inline citations, but certainly not deletion. -- Avenue (talk) 10:33, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep as my understanding is the MBE is a high enough award that all recipients are considered notable per WP:BIO. If that is not true I can reconsider my opinion. Drawn Some (talk) 11:32, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I mean no disrespect to people with MBEs/OBEs, but I wouldn't agree with this argument even for the next step up the award ladder (an OBE). Some people get these for achievements which make them notable (and I think the subject of the article under discussion is one), but other recipients are merely well connected. -- Avenue (talk) 23:06, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep, article references and Google confirm notability (appeared in the Evening Post for example[1]). XLerate (talk) 12:46, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - I've just checked with a professor of botany from another NZ institution. "Jack Yeates", as he was known, started and ran the NZ Seed Library, which is based at Massey. His impact on Agricultural Botany in NZ was significant. He definitely meets WP:ACADEMIC. Beeswaxcandle (talk) 20:58, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Ample evidence of notability. Edward321 (talk) 23:58, 22 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Clearly notable and verified as such. I see that this afd is apparently an emo response by another editor (existing for a few days as that user name) who lost their passionately defended article to another afd, where the article subject was crucified in typical wikipedia fashion..
I also see that we are going to have to debate the Queen's orders as being sufficient to prove notability for Bio's here. I note with concern that the honour of the government and royal process is questioned; Can we have some EVIDENCE please, we need objectivity in this space. "CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD ST. JAMES'S PALACE, LONDON s.w.i 31st December 1977 THE QUEEN has been graciously pleased, on the advice of Her Majesty's New Zealand Ministers, to give orders for the following appointments to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire: Order of the British Empire. (Civil Division) M.B.E. To be Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order :"mozasaur (talk) 14:47, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Mozasaur's query was cross-posted on the NZ noticeboard, and I replied to it there (diff) since that's where I saw it first. I think this is probably a moot point as regards this AfD, anyway, as it only affects one !vote. -- Avenue (talk) 17:11, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. It seems that this article subject is notable for other reasons, but I would hope that this AfD doesn't get used as a precedent for MBEs and OBEs to be used as an automatic indication of notability. Many people receive these honours simply for serving a number of years at a particular level in the civil service, and others (such as my father, who would certainly not pass notability guidelines) are honoured for worthy but unnotable voluntary work. A CBE or higher would be very difficult to get without achieving notability, so that could probably count as a strong indicator of notability. Phil Bridger (talk) 19:08, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Would still be notable even if MBE wasn't mentioned. Kaiwhakahaere (talk) 21:34, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
