Wark, Ian William (1899 - 1985)

Summary

Sir Ian Wark was Chief of the Division of Industrial Chemistry, CSIR/O 1939-1958, Director of the Chemical Research Laboratories 1958-1960, and a member of the Executive 1960-1965. He was chairman of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Advanced Education 1965-1971.

The Australian Academy of Science has awarded the Ian Wark Medal and lecture, named in his honour, biennially since 1987.

Details

Commemorated by the Ian Wark Laboratories in the CSIRO complex at Clayton, the Ian Wark Theatre in the Australian Academy of Science, the Ian Wark Research Institute at the University of South Australia and the Ian William Wark Medal and Lecture of the Australian Academy of Science.

Chronology

1919

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

1920

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

1921

Award - 1851 Exhibition Science Research Scholarship

1923

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University College, London

1924

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

1924

Life event - Postdoctoral studies, University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S.A.

1925 -

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

1925

Career position - Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Sydney

1926 - 1939

Career position - Research Chemist, The Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia Limited

1933

Award - H.G. Smith Memorial Medal, Australian Chemical Institute

1933

Award - Grimwade Prize, University of Melbourne

1933

Award - David Syme Research Prize, University of Melbourne

c. 1937 - c. 1954

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

1939 - 1958

Career position - Chief, CSIR/CSIRO Division of Industrial Chemistry

1940 - 1953

Award - Fellow, Australian Chemical Institute

1942 - 1943

Career position - President, Victorian Branch, Australian Chemical Institute

1946

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

1946 - c. 1954

Career position - Member, Australian National Research Council

1946 - 1985

Award - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1953 - 1985

Award - Fellow, Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI)

1954 - 1985

Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1957 - 1958

Career position - President, Royal Australian Chemical Institute

1958 - 1960

Career position - Director, CSIRO Chemical Research Laboratories

1960 - 1965

Career position - Member of the Executive of CSIRO

1960 - 1985

Award - Honorary Member, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

1964

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

1964 - 1985

Career position - Governor (honorary), Ian Potter Foundation

1965 - 1971

Career position - Chairman, Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Advanced Education

1966

Award - Leighton Memorial Medal, Royal Australian Chemical Institute

1967

Award - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) - Chairman, Committee on Advanced Education

1969

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Services to education and science

1971 - 1985

Career position - Honorary consultant to CSIRO Minerals Research Laboratories / Institute of Energy and Earth Resources

1971 - 1985

Career position - Member, South Australian Board of Advanced Education

1973

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

1975 - 1985

Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)

1977

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

1978 - 1981

Career position - Inaugural President, Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division, Royal Australian Chemical Institute

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Ian William Wark - Records, 1922 - 1985, MS 148; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

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

• Ian William Wark - Records, 1939 - 1965; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Evans, Joanne; McCarthy, Gavan; Stephens, Robin, Centenaries of Australian Science, Discovery and Endeavour: Celebrating Australian Science, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, AustehcWeb, Melbourne, 4 August 1999, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/cent/. Details
• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Beale, Bob, Engineering a Legacy: Memories of the journey of CSIRO Chemical Engineering (Clayton, Victoria: CSIRO Minerals, 2005), 124 pp. pages 3, 12-26, 33, 40, 66, 94. Details
• McCarthy, Gavan, The Papers of Sir Ian William Wark, 1899-1985 (Melbourne: Australian Science Archives Project, 1987), 51 pp. Details
• Rees, A.L.G., Science in Bondage: the Inaugural Ian William Wark Lecture, 30 November 1987 (Canberra: Australian Academy of Science, 1987), 16 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Willis, J. B., 'Wark, Sir Ian William (1899-1985), Chemist and Scientific Administrator' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 18: 1981 - 1990 L-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2012), pp. 558-9. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wark-sir-ian-william-15853. Details

Journal Articles

• Rayner, J. M.; and Wark, I. W., 'Harold George Raggatt', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 2 (3) (1972), 62-75. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9720230062.htm. 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
• Wark, I. W., 'Training of Scientists', Australian Physicist, 10 (6) (1973), 97-99. Details
• Wark, I. W., 'The CSIRO Division of Industrial Chemistry, 1940-1952', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 4 (2) (1979), 7-41. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9790420007.htm. Details
• Wark, I. W.; and Ellis, E. G., 'Maurice Alan Edgar Mawby 1904-197', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (1) (1980), 104-128. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9800510104. Details
• Wark, I.W., 'David Orme Masson, 1858-1937.', The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Proceedings, 25 (November) (1958), 533-541. Details
• Willis, J. B., 'Sir Ian Wark: an Industrious Chemist', Chemistry in Australia, 62 (3) (1995), 32-33. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/6676156133196658430002. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q28037460. Details
• McCarthy, Gavan, Sir Ian William Wark Guide to Records, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, December 1999, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/wark/WARK.htm. Details
• 'Wark, Ian W (18990508-19850420)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-461025. Details
• 'Awarded honorary DAppSc, 1977', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details

Resource Sections

• Rees, A. L. G., 'Ian William Wark 1899-1985', in Australian Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs, Australian Academy of Science, 2006, https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/biographical-memoirs/ian-william-wark-1899-1985. Details
• Ward, C., 'Sir Ian William Wark', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Wark-Sir-Ian-William. 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_w.html. Details
• Ian Wark Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science, 2022, https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/ian-wark-medal-and-lecture. Details
• 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
• Clarebrough, L. M.; Head, A. K., 'Walter Boas 1904-1982', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (4) (1987), 507-517. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9870640507. Details
• Ewers, W. E.; and Weiss, D. E., 'Keith Leonard Sutherland 1916-1980', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (2) (1981), 78-88. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9810520078. Details
• Rogers, W. P., 'Jack Ellerton Becker 1904-1979', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (3) (1982), 92-107. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9820530092. 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