Walkom, Arthur Bache (1889 - 1976)

Summary

Arthur Walkom was a distinguished palaeobotanist whose research focused on the Mesozoic and upper Palaeozoic fossil floras of eastern Australia. He was Director of the Australian Museum from 1940 to 1954. Walkom was active in scientific societies including being President of the Royal Societies of Queensland and New South Wales. He resigned from Council of Linnean Society of New South Wales in 1972 after 53 years continuous service, including terms as President, Treasurer, Secretary and editor of the Society's Proceedings. Walkomiella, a genus of extinct conifer-like gymnosperms, was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1910

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

1912

Career position - Linnean Macleay Fellow (Geology), Linnean Society of New South Wales

1913 - 1919

Career position - Assistant Lecturer in Geology, University of Queensland

1914 - 1918

Career position - Editor, Royal Society of Queensland's Proceedings

1915 - 1917

Career position - Honorary Palaeobotanist, Queensland Museum

1916 - 1918

Career position - Honorary Secretary, Royal Society of Queensland

1918

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

1918 - 1919

Career position - President, Royal Society of Queensland

1919 - 1940

Career position - Secretary, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1919 - 1966

Career position - Editor, Linnean Society of New South Wales' Proceedings

1922 - 1929

Career position - Editor, Australian Science Abstracts, Australian National Research Council

1925

Career event - Elected Member (Geology), Australian National Research Council

1926 - 1930

Career position - Honorary Secretary, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (AAS)

1929

Career position - Attended a meeting of the International Geological Congress in South Africa

1930 - 1947

Career position - General Secretary, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

1933

Career position - Attended a meeting of the International Geological Congress in Washington, USA

1937 -

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

1937 - 1940

Career position - Secretary, Australian National Research Council

1939 - 1940

Career position - Trustee of the Australian Museum

1940 - 1954

Career position - Director of the Australian Museum

1941 - 1942

Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1942 - 1970

Career position - Treasurer, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1943

Career position - President, Royal Society of New South Wales

1947 - 1954

Career position - Served on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Australian national advisory committee

1947 - 1954

Career position - Served on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Australian committee for museums

1948

Career position - Attended the third General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Beirut, Lebanon

1948

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1949

Career position - Delegate at science congresses in New Zealand

1949 - 1951

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

1951

Career position - Delegate at science congresses in Bangalore, India

1952 - 1966

Career position - Honorary Secretary, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1953

Award - Royal Society of New South Wales Medal

1955 - 1976

Career position - Life member of ANZAAS

1955 - 1976

Career position - Life member, Royal Society of New South Wales

1970

Award - ANZAAS Medal (Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science)

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Walkom, A. B., Mesozoic floras of Queensland, parts I-IV: geological notes, maps and sections by B. Dunstan (Brisbane: Government Printer, 1915-9), 303 pp. Details
• Walkom, A. B., The Linnean Society of New South Wales (founded 1874) for "the cultivation and study of the science of natural history in all its branches": historical notes of its first fifty years (jubilee publication) (Sydney: Australasian Medical Publishing Company, 1925), 46 pp. Details
• Walkom, A. B., Guide to the Australian Museum and its contents (Sydney: Trustees of the Australian Museum, 1941), 127 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Brazier, Jan, 'Walkom, Arthur Bache (1889-1976), Palaeobotanist and Museum Director' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 16: 1940 - 1980 Pik-Z, John Ritchie and Diane Langmore, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002), pp. 469-470. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160561b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• A. B. W. [ie Arthur B. Walkom], 'Walter Wilson Froggatt, 1858-1937 (Memorial series, no. 8)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 67 (1/2) (1942), 77-81. Details
• A. B. W. [ie Arthur B. Walkom], 'Herbert James Carter, 1858-1940 (Memorial series, no. 9)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 68 (3/4) (1959), 91-94. Details
• A. B. W. and A. J. Nicholson [ie Arthur B. Walkom and Alexander J. Nicholson], 'Gustavus Athol Waterhouse, 1877-1950 (Memorial series, no. 14)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 78 (5/6) (1953), 269-275. Details
• Fletcher, J. J.; edited by A. B. Walkom, 'The Society's heritage from the Macleays, part ii', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, liv (3) (1929), 185-272. Details
• Vallance, T. G., 'Arthur Bache Walkom 1889-1976 (Memorial series No.25)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 102 (3) (1978), 148-55. Details
• W. R. B. [i.e. Browne, W. R.] and A. B. W. [i.e. Walkom, A. B.], 'Ernest Clayton Andrews 1870 - 1948 (Memorial series, no. 13.)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 77 (1952), 98-103. Details
• W. R. B. and A. B. W. [ie William R. Browne and Arthur B. Walkom], 'Ernest Clayton Andrews, 1870-1948 (Memorial series, no. 13)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 77 (3/4) (1952), 98-103. Details
• Walkom, A. B., 'Mr R. H. Cambage, C.B.E.', Nature, 123 (3095) (1929), 286-7. Details
• Walkom, A. B., 'Memorial to Ernest Clayton Andrews', Proceedings Volume of the Geological Society of America Annual Report for 1948 (1949), 117-126. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4797902. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94882999. Details
• 'Walkom, A B (1889-1889)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-636605. Details