Fellows' biographical memoirs

With the death of Frank Macfarlane Burnet on 31 August 1985, Australia lost its greatest biologist. His experimental work on bacteriophages and animal viruses, especially influenza virus, resulted in major discoveries concerning their nature and replication, and he was a pioneer in the application of ecological principles to viral diseases. He was a Foundation Fellow and, from 1965 to 1969, President of the Australian Academy of Science.

Geoffrey Ivan Opat, Professor of Experi­mental Physics at the University of Mel­bourne, died suddenly at home on 7 March 2002, at the age of 66. He was one of Australia’s most versatile and highly respected physicists, scholars and teachers and his death came as a profound shock to the staff of the University of Melbourne and to the physics community in Australia.

Geoffrey Malcolm Badger was Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Adelaide from 1955 to 1964 and, after serving briefly as a member of the CSIRO Executive, Vice-Chancellor from 1967 to 1977. Elected to Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science in 1960, he served on the Council and was President of the Academy from 1974 to 1978. He was President of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute in 1965 and Chairman of the Australian Science and Technology Council (ASTEC) from 1977 to 1982. He was admitted to the order of Australia (AO) in 1975 and knighted in 1979.

Gregory Maxwell (‘Max’) Kelly (1930–2007) was educated at the University of Sydney (BSc 1951 with First Class Honours, University Medal for Mathematics, Barker Prize, and James King of Irrawang Travelling Scholarship) and the University of Cambridge (BA 1953 with First Class Honours and two Wright’s Prizes; Rayleigh Prize, 1955; PhD 1957).

With the death of Herbert Cole ('Nugget') Coombs on 29 October 1997, Australia lost its greatest public servant, a man who spent his life as an employee of the Commonwealth initiating major civilizing activities in economic and cultural fields, and after his retirement became a great champion of the rights of Aboriginal Australians.

Herbert George Andrewartha was born in Perth on 21 December 1907, the second of three children of George and Elsie Andrewartha. His father was a primary-school teacher, later a headmaster. The family moved often to country towns in Western Australia where his father was posted, but they maintained a base in a small farm at Gosnells, about 40 km from Perth.

When the Australian fifty-dollar note was issued in 1972, it bore the heads of two scientists. On one side was Howard Florey, co-discoverer of penicillin. On the other side was Ian Clunies Ross. His reputation was due in part to concrete achievements, but also to the fact that, with a distinctive appearance, personality and style, he caught the imagination of many of those who met him or heard him speak.

James Meadows Rendel was born on 16 May 1915 in England. He moved to Australia in 1951 to join CSIRO and was appointed Chief of the Division of Animal Genetics in 1959. He was elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 1960, retired from CSIRO in 1980 and died on 4 February 2001. His influence on genetics and the development of the theory and practice of animal breeding in Australia was profound.

Sir John Eccles was internationally recognized for his remarkable and outstanding impact on the neurosciences for more than six decades. Eccles made his mark as an administrator, particularly at the Australian National University and the Australian Academy of Science, of which he was a Foundation Fellow and the second President.

John Cowley contributed significantly to all of the fields that relate to electron diffraction and electron microscopy, and helped to found not a few of them. His name is associated in particular with n-beam dynamical theory, high-resolution electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, instrumental design, and the application of the techniques of electron scattering to structure analysis.