Person

Cummins, John Edward (Jack) (1902 - 1989)

Born
21 October 1902
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Died
7 October 1989
Kew, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Chemist and Science administrator

Summary

Jack Cummins was a chemist and scientific administrator who, after a period as a school teacher and working in a turtle soup factory, became Officer-in-Charge of the Chemical Investigations Division of the Western Australian Department of Forestry. A fellowship from the Science and Industry Endowment Fund enabled him to spend two years studying at the University of Wisconsin. On returning to Australia, Cummins became a Research Officer with the CSIR Division of Forest Products. In 1940 he moved to the CSIR Information section. From 1943 he held senior scientific liaison positions with CSIR(O) in Melbourne, London and Washington D.C. For two years he was Director of the Division of Scientific and Technical Information, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. Cummins was involved in the establishment of the Ian Clunies Ross Foundation in 1959 and served as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer.

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Details

Chronology

1923
Education - BSc, University of Western Australia
1924 - 1927
Career position - Officer-in-charge, Chemical Investigations Division, WA Department of Forestry
1927 - 1929
Award - Training in forest products research at the Forest Products Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Madison, Wisconsin, USA., Science and Industry Endowment Fund
1929 - 1939
Career position - Research officer, CSIR Division of Forest Products
1932
Education - MSc, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
1940 - 1943
Career position - Worked for Information Section, CSIR
1940 - 1953
Award - Fellow, Australian Chemical Institute
1943 - 1945
Career position - Director, CSIR Information Bureau
1945 - 1948
Career position - Officer in charge, CSIR Information Section
1948 - 1955
Career position - Chief Scientific Liaison Officer, CSIR(O) Scientific Liaison Bureau, London
1949 - ?
Award - Fellow, Royal Institute of Chemistry, London
1955 - 1958
Career position - Director of Scientific Liaison, Australian Embassy, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
1958 - 1960
Career position - Director, Division of Scientific and Technical Information, International Atomic Energy Agency
1959 - ?
Career position - Chief Executive Officer, Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation
1960 - 1962
Career position - Worked at CSIRO Head Office
1962
Life event - Retired

Archival resources

The University of Melbourne Archives

  • Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation - Records, 1942 - 1978, 78/96; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

Resources

See also

McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 7 May 2024

EOAS ID: biogs/P000335b.htm

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