Price, James Robert (Jerry) (1912 - 1999)

Summary

Robert Price was a chemist whose research interests were in the chemistry of plants. He was Chief of the CSIRO Division of Organic Chemistry from 1961 to 1966. During this time major initiatives were the search for medicinal drugs in the Australian flora and the development of the collaborative Australian Phytochemical Survey. Price was Chief Executive Officer of CSIRO from 1970 to his retirement in 1977 at a time of considerable upheaval for the Organisation. He was active in the Australian Academy of Science, chairing several of he sectional committees and serving on the Editorial Board of Records of the Australian Academy of Science. Price also took a leading role in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, being President from 1962 to 1964.

Details

Chronology

1933 -

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

1935 -

Education - Masters of Science (MSc), University of Adelaide

1935

Award - 1851 Exhibition Overseas Scholarship

1937 -

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (Dphil), Oxford University, England

1937 - 1939

Career position - Head, Chemistry, Section, John Innes Horticultural Institution, England

1939 - 1945

Career position - Propellants and Explosives, Ministry of Supply, England

1945 - 1958

Career position - Research Officer, Division of Industrial Chemistry, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia

1949 - 1953

Career position - Associate Editor of Institute publications, Australian Chemical Institute

1954 -

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Adelaide

1956

Award - H.G. Smith Memorial Award, Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Australia

1956 - 1958

Career position - Editor, Reviews of pure and applied chemistry

1956 - 1958

Career position - Editor, Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute

1958 - 1960

Career position - Principal Research Officer, CSIRO Industrial Chemistry Division

1959

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1959 - 1960

Career position - President, Victorian Branch, Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Australia

1960 - 1961

Career position - Officer in charge, Organic Chemistry Section, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia

1960 - 1966

Career position - Member, National Committee for Chemistry, Australian Academy of Science

1961 - 1966

Career position - Chief, CSIRO Division of Organic Chemistry

1962 - 1964

Career position - President, Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Australia

1962 - 1968

Career position - Member, Sectional Committee for Chemistry and Applied Chemistry, Australian Academy of Science

1965 - 1966

Career position - Chairman, Sectional Committee for Chemistry and Applied Chemistry, Australian Academy of Science

1965 - 1970

Career position - Member, Editorial Board, Records of the Australian Academy of Science

1966 - 1970

Career position - Member of the Executive, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia

1966 - 1970

Career position - Chairman, Publications Committee, Australian Academy of Science

1969

Career position - Chairman of Organizing Committee, XXIInd Congress of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the XIIth International Conference on Coordination Chemistry

1969

Award - Leighton Memorial Medal, Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Australia

1969

Career position - Chairman, National Committee for Chemistry, Australian Academy of Science

1970 - 1977

Career position - Chairman, Executive, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia

1976

Award - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), Great Britain

1977 - 1999

Career position - Honorary Member, Royal Society of New South Wales

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Collins, David J.; Simpson, Gregory W.; Solomon, David H.; Spurling, Thomas H., 'James Robert Price, 1912-1999', Historical Records of Australian Science, 15 (1) (2004), 95-120. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR03012. Details
• Price, J. R., 'Alexander Thomas Dick 1911-1982', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (3) (1986), 393-397. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9860630393. Details
• Price, J. R.; Lamberton, J. A.; and Culvenor, C. C. J., 'The Australian Phytochemical Survey: Historical Aspects of the CSIRO Search for New Drugs in Australian Plants', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (4) (1993), 335-356. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9930940335. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q66735961. Details
• 'Price, Robert (1912-1999)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1016042. Details
• Ward, C., Sir James Robert (Jerry) Price (1912 - 1999), CSIROpedia, CSIRO, 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Price-Sir-James-Robert/. Details

Resource Sections

• Spurling, T. H., 'Price, James Robert (Jerry) (1912 - 1999), organic chemist and science administrator', in Australian dictionary of biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, Canberra, 2023, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/price-james-robert-jerry-32122. Details

See also

• 'Dr Keith Thomas Henry Farrer OBE MA DSc FTSE - Biographical Note', Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=648. Details
• Beale, Bob, Engineering a Legacy: Memories of the journey of CSIRO Chemical Engineering (Clayton, Victoria: CSIRO Minerals, 2005), 124 pp. pages 32, 46 (photograph), 54. Details
• Walsh, A.; and Willis, J. B., 'Albert Lloyd George Rees 1916-1989', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (1) (1992), 31-47. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920910031. Details