Fellows' biographical memoirs

Brian Kay was a renowned entomologist and arbovirologist who worked in academia and with local and international governments to make major and lasting improvements in public health, specifically in mosquito-borne diseases.

In a half-century involvement in radio astronomy, Brian Robinson achieved international recognition and received many honours. During a forty-year career at CSIRO Division of Radiophysics, he undertook leading research, headed the Astrophysics Group, and contributed significantly in the Australia Telescope planning and funding campaign. Internationally, he distinguished himself in radio astronomy committees and negotiations to protect radio astronomy observations from interference from telecommunication transmissions.

Bruce Chappell was one of the most distinguished geologists of his generation whose contributions to understanding the origins of granites are both insightful and profound.

Angas Hurst was internationally renowned as a mathematical physicist, making seminal contributions to quantum field theory and statistical mechanical models.

Charles Watson-Munro was a physicist best known for helping build the first nuclear reactors in Canada, the UK, and Australia, and for his later work as a professor of plasma physics at the University of Sydney.

Chris made an outstanding contribution to probability theory and its applications. He received considerable recognition, including Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science and of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, as well as Membership of the Order of Australia.

Christopher John Ash was born on 5 January 1945 at Gorleston, a seaside town adjoining Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. He was an only child. His father, Kenneth William Ash, was the middle of three brothers. The elder brother was a Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force who worked on rocket research and the younger was a Captain in the Merchant Navy. Chris’s father was Borough Engineer at Redcar on the North Yorkshire coast. His mother was Joan Evelyn Hadley, who worked at a Quaker school.

Colin Russell Austin, English by birth, initially graduated in Veterinary Science from the University of Sydney in 1936. The Second World War limited his career options, but he was fortunate to be employed by the CSIRO Division of Animal Health in Sydney. In 1954 he was invited to join the staff of the Medical Research Council’s laboratory in Mill Hill, London to study fertilization and early embryonic development in rats and rabbits.

David Cooper was an internationally renowned immunologist and HIV clinician who spearheaded Australia’s world-leading HIV response.

David Headley Green AM FAA FRS was an outstanding Australian geologist and world leader in experimental petrology and geochemistry.