Fellows update—May 2019

May 30, 2019

Honours and awards to Fellows

Professor Jenny Graves AO FAA—elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences

Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski—elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences

Obituary

Professor Jack Pettigrew

Professor John ‘Jack’ Pettigrew FAA FRS

2 October 1943 to 7 May 2019

Professor Jack Pettigrew was Emeritus Professor of the Queensland Brain Institute and internationally known for his work on the physiology of binocular vision with extensions to the fields of binaural hearing and somatic sensation. Professor Pettigrew also discovered that owls have independently evolved a system of binocular neurons like those found in mammals.

Professor Pettigrew had a great love of nature and in his younger days he was a very keen climber. He and another climber were the first to climb the south-east face of Frenchman’s Cap in Tasmania. He was also the first to ascend Ball’s Pyramid, the world’s tallest volcanic stack off the coast of Lord Howe Island. Following his retirement, Professor Pettigrew continued to pursue his love of the Australian bush and Kimberley rock art which led him to the Tanzanian Plateau, where he discovered in 2012, a new species of African mountain boab, Adansonia kilima.

Professor Pettigrew was elected to the Academy in 1987, the same year he was elected to the Royal Society of London. He was an active contributor to the Academy and served as a committee member and as a member of the Academy’s Council from 1998 to 2001.

© 2024 Australian Academy of Science

Top