Richardson, Arnold Edwin Victor (1883 - 1949)

Summary

Arnold Richardson was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CSIR 1938-1946, then Chief Executive Officer from 1946 to 1949. Earlier he was Professor of Agriculture at Waite Agricultural Research Institute, University of Adelaide 1924-1938; acting Director of Agriculture in South Australia and Superintendent of Agriculture in Victoria. Richardson was also Foundation President of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science 1935-1936, and first president of its South Australian branch.

The south wing of the Waite Institute was named the A.E.V. Richardson Laboratory in his honour and his portrait is on display at the CSIRO building in East Melbourne.

Details

Chronology

1902

Education - Diploma, Roseworthy Agricultural College

1907

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Adelaide

1908

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

1908 - 1910

Career position - Assistant Director of Agriculture, South Australia

1910

Education - Master of Arts (MA), University of Adelaide

1911

Career position - Acting Director of Agriculture, South Australia

1911 - 1924

Career position - Superintendent of Agriculture, Victoria

1917 -

Career position - Member of the committee to inquire into the teaching of agriculture

1917 - 1919

Career position - Lecturer in Agriculture (part-time lecturer), University of Melbourne

1919 -

Career position - Foundation Councillor (Agriculture), Australian National Research Council

1919 - 1924

Career position - Inaugural Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Melbourne

1923

Career position - President, Section K (Agriculture and Forestry), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1924

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

1924 - 1937

Career position - Waite Professor of Agriculture and Director of Waite Agricultural Research Institute, University of Adelaide

1927

Career position - Commonwealth delegate at the First Imperial Agricultural Research Conference, London

1927 - 1949

Career position - Member of the Executive Committee of CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)

1932

Career position - Official Adviser to the Australian Delegation at the Imperial Economic Conference, Ottawa

1935 - 1936

Career position - Foundation President, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science

1937

Career event - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

1938

Award - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)

1938 - 1946

Career position - Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CSIR

1946 - 1949

Career position - Chief Executive Officer of CSIR

1947 - 1949

Career position - President, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

Related entries

Archival resources

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies

• Arnold Edwin Victor Richardson - Records, 1938 - 1949; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies. Details

Private hands (Best, R.J.)

• Arnold Edwin Victor Richardson - Records, 1883 - 1949; Private hands (Best, R.J.). Details

Waite Agricultural Research Institute

• Arnold Edwin Victor Richardson - Records, 1934 - 1940; Waite Agricultural Research Institute. Details

Published resources

Books

• Currie, George; Graham, John, The Origins of CSIRO: Science and the Commonwealth Government, 1901-1926 (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1966), 203 pp, https://ebooks.publish.csiro.au/content/origins-csiro. pages 59, 68 (photograph), 90, 100, 101, 104, 108, 134, 142, 148. Details

Book Sections

• Best, R. J., 'Richardson, Arnold Edwin Victor (1883-1949), Agricultural Scientist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 377-379. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110388b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Best, Rupert J., 'Arnold Edwin Victor Richardson C.M.G., D.Sc. (Melb.), M.A. (Adel.), B.Sc. (Agric.) (Adel.), R.D.A., P.A.I.A.S., foundation Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, first Waite Professor of Agriculture: an appraisal', Biennial Report of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, 1980-81 (1981), 4-25. Details
• Prescott, J. A., 'Obituary: A. E. V. Richardson', Australian Journal of Science, 13 (4) (1951), 102-103. Details
• Richardson, A. E. V., 'Science in Relation to Australia's Development. Presidential Address', Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, 26 (1947), 41-63. Details
• Schedvin, C. B., 'Environment, Economy and Australian Biology 1890-1939', Historical Studies, 21 (1984), 11-28. Details
• Upstill, Garrett; Spurling, Thomas H.; and Healy, Terence J., 'CSIR and Australian industry, 1926-49', Historical Records of Australian Science, 32 (1) (2021), 52-66. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR20012. Details

Reports

• Advisory Council of Science and Industry, Report of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Advisory Council of Science and Industry: for the year ended 30th June 1918 (Melbourne: Government of the Commonwealth of Australia, 1918), 64 pp. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2004795988. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21535720. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/93118976. Details
• Langham, Terry, Waite Arboretum fact sheet: Prof. A. E. V. Richardson 1883 - 1949, Friends of Waite Arboretum, 2016. https://friendsofwaitearboretum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/RICHARDSON-Prof-Arnold-E-V-.pdf. Details
• 'Richardson, A E V (1883-1949)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-556233. Details

Resource Sections

• Ward, C., 'Arnold Edwin Victor Richardson', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Richardson-Arnold-Edwin-Victor. Details

See also

• Beale, Bob, Engineering a Legacy: Memories of the journey of CSIRO Chemical Engineering (Clayton, Victoria: CSIRO Minerals, 2005), 124 pp. pages 6. Details
• McCann, D. A.; and Batterham, P., 'Australian Genetics: a Brief History', Genetica, 90 (2-3) (1993), 81-114. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01435033. Details
• Sherratt, Tim, 'CSIRO' in Oxford Companion to Australian History, Graeme Davison; John Hirst; Stuart Macintyre, ed. (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 164-165. http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/tps/csiro_history.htm. Details
• Stephens, C.G.; and Quirk, J.P., 'James Arthur Prescott 1890-1987', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (3) (1988), 299-313. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9880730299. Details