Martin, Leslie Harold (1900 - 1983)

Summary

Leslie Martin was Lecturer and Associate Professor in Natural Philosophy, and then Professor of Physics at the University of Melbourne (1927-1959). Some of his many other posts include Commissioner of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (1958-1968) and Professor of Physics at the Royal Military College of Duntroon (1967-1970). In 1971 the College established the Sir Leslie Martin Prize which has been awarded every year since then 1985, and from then at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) since 1986 to the present. The prize is awarded for 'distinguished performance by a First Year Officer Cadet in First Year Physics' from all streams, that is, all Physics, Engineering and Arts students who take Physics I. Martin was knighted in 1957 to honour his outstanding contributions to science.

Details

Chronology

1921

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne

1923

Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne

1923 - 1926

Award - 1851 Exhibition Overseas Scholarship, studied at University of Cambridge

1927

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Cambridge (Cavendish Laboratory), UK

1927

Career position - Rockefeller Fellow

1927 - 1937

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Natural Philosophy, University of Melbourne

1934

Award - David Syme Research Prize (shared with W. G. Kannuluik), University of Melbourne

1937 - 1945

Career position - Associate Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Melbourne

1942 - 1944

Career position - Deputy Chief, CSIR Division of Radiophysics

1945

Award - John Smyth Memorial Medal, University of Melbourne

1945 - 1959

Career position - Professor of Physics, University of Melbourne

1946

Award - R.M. Johnston Memorial Medal, Royal Society of Tasmania

1946 - 1983

Award - Fellow, Institute of Physics, United Kingdom

1948 - 1968

Career position - Defence Scientific Adviser and Chairman of the Defence Research & Development Policy Committee

1951 - 1959

Career position - Member of Council, University of Melbourne

1952 - 1953

Career position - President, Institute of Physics, Australian branch

1953 - 1958

Career position - Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Australian Atomic Energy Commission

1953 - 1963

Career position - Trustee, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

1953 - 1983

Award - Petitioner for the Academy, Founding Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1954

Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - Science

1955 - 1956

Career position - Chairman, Professorial Board, University of Melbourne

1957 -

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1957

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Defence Science Adviser

1957

Career position - Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne

1957 - 1973

Career position - Member, National Radiation Advisory Committee

1958

Career position - Australian Delegate, United Nations conference on Atoms for Peace, Vienna

1958 - 1968

Career position - Commissioner with the Australian Atomic Energy Commission

1959

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

1959

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, Australian National University

1959 - 1966

Career position - Chairman, Australian Universities Commission

1960

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of Queensland

1962 - 1963

Career position - Chairman of Trustees, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

1963

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of New South Wales

1963

Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Western Australia

1966

Award - Doctor of Letters (DLitt), honoris causa, University of Sydney

1967

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), ad eundem gradum, University of Adelaide

1967 - 1970

Career position - Dean of Military Studies and Professor of Physics, Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra

1970

Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

1971 -

Career position - Sir Leslie Martin Prize established, Royal Military College

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Leslie Harold Martin - Records, 1905 - 1972, DeB 621; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Exhibition Papers, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/exhib_papers.htm. Details

Books

• Muirhead, Edmund, Leslie Martin at Melbourne: profile of a physics department (1945-1959) (Melbourne: School of Physics, University of Melbourne, 1998), 123 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Home, R. W., 'Martin, Sir Leslie Harold (1900-1983), Physicist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 18: 1981 - 1990 L-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2012), pp. 134-6. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/martin-sir-leslie-harold-14939. Details

Journal Articles

• Caro, D. E.; Martin, R. L., 'Leslie Harold Martin 1900-1983', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (1) (1987), 97-107. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9870710097. Details
• Caro, D. E.; Martin, R. L.; and Oliphant, M., 'Leslie Harold Martin 21 December 1900 - 1 February 1983', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 33 (1987), 399-409, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1987.0015. Details
• Caro, D.E., 'Sir Leslie Harold Martin (1900-1983) - Obituary', Australian Physicist, 20 (May) (1983), 91-92. Details
• Humble, John; Dildig, Marc, '100 years of cosmic rays - an Australian perspective: part 2, Tasmania', Australian Physics, 50 (6) (2013), 195-9. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6530859. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/16001954. Details
• 'Martin, Leslie Harold (19001221-19830201)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-551155. Details
• 'Awarded honorary LLD, 1970', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details
• 'Awarded honorary DSc, 1959', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Martin, Leslie Harold', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000622p.htm. Details
• Caro, D. E.; and Martin, R. L., 'Leslie Harold Martin 1900-1983', in Australian Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs, Australian Academy of Science, 2006, https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/biographical-memoirs/leslie-harold-martin-1900-1983. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_m.html. Details
• Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist (1990). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. Details
• Mellor, D.P., 'Optical Munitions', Chapter 12 in Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4: Civil, volume 5 'The Role of Science and Industry', Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1958 (1958). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/mellor.htm. Details
• Newton, J. O., 'Ernest William Titterton 1916-1990', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (2) (1992), 167-187. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920920167. Details
• Rees, A. L. G., 'Ian William Wark 1899-1985', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (4) (1987), 533-548. https://doi.org/10.1071HR9870640533. Details
• Sherratt, Tim, '"On the beach": Australia's nuclear history' (1996).. http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/tps/tps_on_the_beach.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
• Wisdom, John, A History of Defence Science in Australia (Melbourne: Defence Science and Technology Organisation, 1995), 267 pp. Details