Fellows' biographical memoirs

When Archie McIntyre died peacefully in St Vincent’s Hospital in Launceston, Tasmania on 20 July 2002, Australia lost one of its most significant contributors to the development of modern neuroscience. Less well known, perhaps, because of his self-effacing manner, than eminent peers like Jack Eccles, he was nevertheless a major driving force behind Australia’s excellence in neurophysiological research.

Sir Arnold Hughes "Hugh" Ennor was a biochemist, the first Professor appointed to the Australian National University, and served as the Secretary for the Australian Government Department of Science for more than 10 years.

Professor Arthur McComb FAA conducted pioneer research into plant growth hormones, and made significant contributions to understanding aquatic ecosystems, particularly the demise of seagrass meadows and algal blooms in estuaries.

Arthur John Birch AC CMG FRS FAA was one of the great organic chemists of the twentieth century. He held chairs at the Universities of Sydney and Manchester and at the Australian National University in Canberra, and was President of the Australian Academy of Science from 1982 to 1986. His outstanding research contributions include the Birch reduction of aromatic compounds by sodium and ethanol in liquid ammonia, his polyketide theory of the biosynthesis of natural products, and his studies of synthetic applications of diene iron tricarbonyl complexes.

Arthur Melville 'Mel' Thompson was a distinguished Australian physicist who made significant contributions to the science of precise measurement.

Arthur Robert Hogg was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 25 November, 1903. He became a student at the Royal Melbourne Technical College, then at the University of Melbourne, where he graduated BSc in 1923, with first-class honours in chemistry and the Dixson Scholarship, and as MSc in 1925, with the Kernot Scholarship. He went first to the Broken Hill Associated Smelters at Port Pirie, South Australia, quickly to become Assistant Superintendent of Research, a post he held until 1929.

Athel Beckwith was an organic chemist whose research was concerned with free radicals, the reactive intermediates that play important roles in many organic chemical reactions. After studies and junior appointments at Australian universities, at Oxford University he worked with W. A. Waters and completed his doctorate at a time when scepticism about the very existence of free radicals was being rolled back by a small group of experimentalists.

Bede Morris was born in Sydney on 10 June 1927, the younger of two sons of Grainger and Evelyn Morris. During his school days, Bede was a choir boy at St Paul's Church. He also played several sports with great enthusiasm and, as with most things, worked hard to achieve a standard of excellence which satisfied him.

Bernie Mills is remembered globally as an influential pioneer in radio astronomy who invented the Mills Cross Telescope.

Bernhard Hermann Neumann was born and educated in Berlin. He held doctorates from Berlin and Cambridge, and mathematical positions at universities in Cardiff, Hull, Manchester, and the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. Whereas his move to the UK in 1933 was a result of the difficulties he faced as a Jew in finding employment in Germany, his move to Australia in 1962 was to set up a new research Department of Mathematics at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the ANU.