Person

Compston, William (1931 - )

FAA FRS FTSE

Born
19 February 1931
Western Australia, Australia
Occupation
Physicist

Summary

Bill Compston has been a professorial fellow, Australian National University since 1974. He has made outstanding contributions to the application of mass spectrometry to the dating of rocks, particularly in the use of the uranium-lead and rubidium-strontium radioactive decay series. His research group at the Australian National University developed the Sensitive High Resolution Ion MicroProbe (SHRIMP) which revolutionised geochronology. They identified what were then the oldest known rocks, from Western Australia. In 1969 Compston was principal investigator in dating lunar rocks from the Apollo 11 mission.

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Chronology

1951
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Western Australia
1956 - 1957
Award - Fulbright Scholarship, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.
1957
Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Western Australia
1958 - 1961
Career position - Lecturer in Physics, University of Western Australia
1961
Career event - Joined the Department of Geophysics, Australian National University
1971 -
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
1987 -
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1988
Award - Mawson Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science
1988
Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Western Australia
1995
Award - Morrison Medal, Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry
1995
Award - Clunies Ross National Science and Technology Award, Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation
1997
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)
1998
Award - Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science
2001
Award - Centenary Medal - for service to Australian Earth Science and Instrumental Development

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See also

  • De Laeter, J. R., 'Geochronology in Australia: an overview', Australian journal of earth sciences, 55 (6/7) (2008), 723-4. https://doi.org/10.1080/08120090802094085. Details
  • Downard, K. M.; and De Laeter, J. R., 'A History of Mass Spectrometry in Australia', Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 40 (9) (2005), 1123-1139. Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P000317b.htm

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