Person

Huxley, Leonard George Holden (1902 - 1988)

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    Leonard George Holden Huxley
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Born
29 May 1902
Dulwich, England
Died
4 September 1988
Camden, England
Occupation
Physicist and Vice-Chancellor

Summary

Leonard Huxley was a physicist whose interests were in electromagnetic wave propagation and electron and ion motion in gases. He made fundamental contributions to the theory of electrical conduction in lightly ionized gases which he developed to interpret both ionospheric phenomena and laboratory electron '"swarm" experiments to examine the collective behaviour of electrons in gases under the influence of electric and magnetic fields. During WWII Huxley was attached to the Bawdsey Research Station (later the Telecommunications Research Establishment), where he was involved in the introduction of radar. He was given the task of establishing and heading a radar training school for both civilian and service personnel. In 1949 Huxley became Elder Professor of Physics at the University of Adelaide. In this position he established Ph.D. training programs, and research teams investigating meteor trails and upper-atmosphere winds, and electron drift and diffusion in gases, as well as biophysics, solid-state physics and seismology. His time in Adelaide proved to be his scientifically productive and influential. In 1960 Huxley became Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU). His first challenge was to manage the amalgamation of the ANU (as the Institute of Advanced Studies) with the former Canberra University College (as the School of General Studies). He succeeded in greatly expanding the University's student numbers and budget. Huxley was actively involved in scientific and cultural organisations. These included the Australian Academy of Science, the National Standards Commission, and the National Library of Australia, in all of which he held executive positions. He was the last President of the Australian Branch, Institute of Physics, and the first of its successor, the Australian Institute of Physics.

Details

Chronology

1905
Life event - Migrated to Australia with his family
1922
Education - BSc, University of Tasmania
1923
Award - Rhodes Scholar for Tasmania
1925
Education - BA, University of Oxford
1928
Education - DPhil, University of Oxford
1929
Education - MA, University of Oxford
1929 - 1931
Career Position - Physicist, Radio Research Board, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
1932 - 1940
Career Position - Lecturer in Physics, University College, Leicester
1940 - 1946
Career Position - Principal Scientific Officer, Ministry of Aircraft Production, United Kingdom
1946 - 1949
Career Position - Reader in Electromagnetism, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
1949 - 1960
Career Position - Professor of Physics, University of Adelaide
1950
Award - PhD ad eundem gradum, University of Adelaide
1953 - 1960
Career Position - Member of Council, University of Adelaide
1953 - 1965
Career Position - Chairman, National Standards Commission
1954 - 1955
Career Position - President, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics
1954 - 1988
Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
1956 - 1959
Career Position - Member of Council, Australian National University
1956 - 1962
Career Position - Member of Council, Australian Academy of Science
1957 - 1958
Career Position - Vice-President, Australian Academy of Science
1958 - 1961
Career Position - Chairman, Radio Research Board
1959 -
Career Position - Member, National Committee for Space Research, Australian Academy of Science
1959 - 1962
Career Position - Secretary (Physical Sciences), Australian Academy of Science
1960
Career Position - Member of the Executive, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
1960 - 1964
Career Position - Member, US Education Foundation in Australia
1960 - 1967
Career Position - Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University
1961 - 1972
Career Position - Member of Council, National Library of Australia
1962
Career Position - President, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics
1962
Award - DSc honoris causa, University of Tasmania
1962 - 1965
Career Position - President, Australian Institute of Physics
1964
Award - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)
1965 - 1969
Career Position - Inaugural Chairman, Australian American Educational Foundation
1968 - 1970
Career Position - Visiting Fellow, Australian National University
1969 - 1974
Career Position - Member of Council, Canberra College of Advanced Education
1980
Award - DSc honoris causa, Australian National University

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Leonard George Holden Huxley - Records, 1933 - 1948, MS 102; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details
  • Thomas Henry Huxley - Records, 1851 - 1971, MS 134; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

University of Adelaide, Physics Department

  • Leonard George Holden Huxley - Records, 1949 - 1959; University of Adelaide, Physics Department. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • Huxley, L. G. H.; and Crompton, R.. W., The diffusion and drift of electrons in gases (New York: Wiley, 1974), 669 pp. Details
  • Munro, G. H.; and Huxley, L. G. H., Atmospherics in Australia, 1 (Melbourne: Government Printer, 1932), 49 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Crompton, Robert W., 'Huxley, Sir Leonard George Holden (1902 - 1988), physicist and vice-chancellor' in Australian dictionary of biography volume 17: 1981 - 1990 A-K, Langmore, Di, ed. (Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, 2007). https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/huxley-sir-leonard-george-holden-516/text22851. Details
  • Huxley, L. G. W., 'Research in Mathematics and Physics' in Introducing South Australia : [prep. originally for the 33rd meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science], Rupert Best, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1958). Details
  • Lovell, Bernard, 'Sir Leonard George Holden Huxley, 1902-1988' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details

Journal Articles

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

  • Brown, R. Hanbury; Minnett, Harry C; White, Fredrick W. G., 'Edward George Bowen 1911-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (2) (1992), 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920920151. Details
  • Heyde, C. C., 'Patrick Alfred Pierce Moran 1917-1988', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (1) (1992), 17-30. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920910017. Details
  • Wright, J. F. H., Measurement in Australia, 1938-1988: a History of Australia's National Standards Laboratory (Sydney: CSIRO, Division of Applied Physics, 1998), 142 pp. Details

Digital resources

Title
Leonard George Holden Huxley
Type
Image

Details

Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn

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