Norman Simmonds was an outstanding member of the group of British Tropical Agriculturalists who served overseas with great distinction during and immediately after the Second World War. He was then equally successful and influential in British academia and as an internationally respected researcher. He will be remembered as a plant breeder, a geneticist, a teacher and author, and as incisive commentator on current affairs in tropical agriculture. Simmonds had a long association with Experimental Agriculture, serving on its Editorial Board from 1978 to 1998, and as a Book Review Editor from 1978 to 1987.