Person

White, Frederick William George (1905 - 1994)

KBE FAA FRS

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    Frederick William George White
    Details

Born
26 May 1905
Wellington, New Zealand
Died
17 August 1994
Brighton, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Physicist, Science administrator and Ornithologist

Summary

Frederick White was a physicist who, after graduating from the Victoria Univsrsity College (Wellington, New Zealand) and the University of Cambridge, and teaching in Cambridge and New Zealand for 10 years, came to Australia during WWII. Initially he worked for CSIR on the development of radar. He had a distinguished career at the head of CSIR and CSIRO for over 25 years, retiring as Chairman in 1970. Highlights of this period include significant advances in wool textile research, radio astronomy, meteorology and atmospheric physics. White was involved in a broad range of scientific endeavours and organisations including ANZAAS, the introduction of he metric system to Papua New Guinea, university councils and the Radio Research Board. Elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1960, he served as Vice-President, a member of the National Committee for Antarctic Research, and Chairman of the Editorial Boards of the Academy's journals. He donated money to the Academy for the Frederick White Prize (later Medal) and the Elizabeth and Frederick White Conferences. He was also an amateur ornithologist, who studied the songs of the male Olive Whistler in the Kosciusko National Park and other areas in eastern Australia using a sonograph, identifying some of the song functions, tracing the birds' seasonal migrations and finding evidence for song learning.

Details

Chronology

1931 - 1936
Career position - Lecturer in Physics, King's College, London
1937 - 1941
Career position - Professor of Physics, Canterbury University College, Christchurch, New Zealand
1941
Career position - Acting Chairman, Radiophysics Advisory Board, CSIR
1941 - 1946
Career position - Chief, Division of Radiophysics, CSIR
1946 - 1949
Career position - Member, CSIR Executive
1949 - 1956
Career position - Chief Executive, CSIRO Chief Executive, CSIRO Chief Executive, CSIRO
1954
Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
1956 - 1957
Career position - President, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics
1957 - ?
Career position - Chairman, Radio Research Board
1957 - 1959
Career position - Deputy Chairman, CSIRO
1959 - ?
Career position - Member, National Committee on Antarctic Research, Australian Academy of Science
July 1959 - May 1970
Career position - Chairman, CSIRO
1960 - 1979
Career position - Member of Council, Australian National University
1960 - 1994
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
1961 - 1967
Career position - Member of Council, Monash University
1961 - 1994
Award - Honorary Fellow, Royal Society of New Zealand
1962
Award - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)
1963 - 1964
Career position - President, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science
1966 - 1994
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1969
Award - DSc honoris causa, Monash University
1969
Award - DSc honoris causa, Aunstralian National University
1970
Award - DSc honoris causa, University of Papua New Guinea
1970 - 1994
Award - Honorary Fellow, Australian Institute of Physics
1971 - 1975
Career position - Chairman, commission to introduce metric system to Papua New Guinea
1971 - 1980
Career position - Chairman, Editorial Board, Records of the Australian Academy of Science
1973 - 1994
Award - Honorary Member, Royal Society of New South Wales
1974
Career position - Chairman, Pacific Science Congress on Metric Conversion
1974 - 1977
Career position - Member of Council, Australian Academy of Science
1975
Award - ANZAAS Medal, Australian ans New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science
1976 - 1977
Career position - Vice-President, Australian Academy of Science
1980 - 1983
Career position - Editor, Historical Records of Australian science

Related Awards

Related Corporate Bodies

Related Journals

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Frederick William George White - Records, 1931 - 1993, MS 111; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, University of Melbourne

  • Audio of interview with Sir Fredrick White, 12 August 1986, P000889; Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, University of Melbourne. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Frederick William George White - Records, 1769 - 1969, MS 2384; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • 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
  • Brown, Robert Hanbury; Minnett, H. C.; and White, Frederick William George, 'Edward George Bowen, 14 January 1911 - 12 August 1991', Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society, 38 (1992), 41-65. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1992.0003. Details
  • Minnett, H. C.; and Robertson, Rutherford Ness, 'Sir Frederick William George White, C.B.E., 26 May 1905 - 17 Aug 1994', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 42 (1996), 497-521. Details
  • Minnett, H. C.; and Robertson, Rutherford Sir, 'Frederick William George White 1905-1994', Historical Records of Australian Science, 11 (2) (1996), 239-258. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9961120239. Details
  • White, F. W. G., 'John Percival Vissing Madsen', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 2 (1) (1971), 51-65. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9710210051.htm. Details
  • White, F. W. G., ' A personal account of the historical development of CSIRO', Nature, 261 (1976), 633-6. https://doi.org/10.1038/261633A0. Details
  • White, F. W. G., 'Casey of Berwick and Westminster, Baron Richard Gardiner Casey, KG, PC, GCMG, CH, DSO, MC, KStJ, FAA, MA(Cantab.)', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 3 (4) (1977), 54-83. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9770340054.htm. Details
  • White, F. W. G.; and Huxley, L. G. H., 'Radio Research Australia, 1927-39', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 3 (1) (1975), 7-29. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9750310007.htm. Details
  • White, F. W.G., 'Robert Gordon Menzies (1894-1978)', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (1) (1980), 68-102. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9800510068. Details
  • White, Frederick, 'CSIR to CSIRO - the events of 1948-1949', Public Administration, 34 (4) (1975), 281-93. Details
  • White, Sir Frederick, 'James Cook and the Measurement of Longitude', Navigation, 3 (2) (1969), 179-183. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

Digital resources

Title
Frederick William George White
Type
Image

Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

EOAS ID: biogs/P000889b.htm

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