Dr Tony O'Sullivan, the Killarney-born food scientist and dairy technologist, died on October 10th at his home in the village of Souldern, Oxfordshire, after a short illness.
He was born in Killarney, Co Kerry, in 1936, the son of the legendary Kerry football trainer, Dr Eamon O'Sullivan, and his wife Marjorie.
He received his secondary education at Newbridge College and his BSc and MSc degrees in dairy science from University College Cork. He did his Ph D in Food Science at Cornell University, New York.
While in the US, he met and married Carol Dioguardi, a graduate in fine arts who also lectured at Cornell.
Brief periods as a lecturer in dairy technology at UCC and a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University were followed by eight years (1966-74) as the first head of the Department of Dairy Technology at the National Research Centre in Moorepark, Fermoy.
There he worked alongside colleagues Joe Walsh, the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Dan Browne, managing director of Dawn Meats, Dr Liam Downey, former chief executive of Teagasc, and Dr Tom O'Dwyer, current chairman of Teagasc.
During 1972-74 O'Sullivan was a director of the Irish Sugar Company/Erin Foods Group, a position which whetted his appetite for the world of commerce.
To make the break from research to business, he moved to Northern Ireland, initially as general manager of the Northern Ireland Agricultural Trust and then as marketing director/deputy managing director of the Milk Marketing Board for Northern Ireland.
In March 1980 he transferred to the meat industry - first, for over five years ,as managing director of CBF, the Irish Livestock and Meat Board, and then four as the first marketing director of the British Meat and Livestock Commission in Milton Keynes.
O'Sullivan was instrumental in securing key contracts for the supply of vacuum-packaged Irish beef directly to major UK and continental European supermarket chains, most notably Germany, France and Italy.
He presided over a period of unprecedented development in the Irish beef industry which saw a dramatic increase in the exports of vacuum-packed beef, underlying what can be achieved by a scientific approach and adventurous marketing.
He was also involved in opening up key markets in North Africa and the Middle East for Irish beef and live cattle.
In 1989 O'Sullivan returned to the dairy industry when he was appointed managing director of Quality Milk Producers, the marketing/representational body for Jersey and Guernsey milk producers in England and Wales.
A former chairman of Cork Scientific Council, he was installed in 1993 as the 51st president of the Society of Dairy Technology, the professional body of dairy science and technology in the UK and the Republic.
In 1995, he established Agri-Food Consultancy - specialising in marketing, technical and management services to the food industry. A prodigious worker, he took on the role of executive director of the Society of Dairy Technology in addition to his consultancy work and was active up to the time of his death.
O'Sullivan was a fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Institute of Food Science and Technology.
Respected for his intellectual ability, his integrity and the principled stance he took on issues, he was admired for his amazing energy, competitive spirit, optimism and good humour. He was an avid reader.
O'Sullivan maintained a lifelong interest in rugby and was a keen golfer, playing off a single figure handicap. He played his last game in August when he insisted on playing off the regular championship tee.
He is survived by his wife, Carol, daughter Dara, sons Paul and Ronan, four grandchildren and three brothers.
Anthony Christopher (Tony) O'Sullivan: born December 17th, 1936; died October 10th, 2004