Clarke, Adrienne Elizabeth (1938 - )

Summary

Adrienne Clarke is a world renowned plant geneticist and was Laureate Professor of Botany at the Plant Cell Biology Research Centre of the University of Melbourne until 31 December 2005. She remains on at the University in an honorary position and continues to work on many government and private boards / committees and is heavily involved with many national and international scientific bodies. Clarke is a scientist of firsts; she was the first female appointed Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne, her team was the first to clone the gene (S gene) which regulates self-compatibility in plants and the first to clone the cDNA of an arabinogalactan protein (a class of plant proteoglycan). Throughout her career, Clarke has received many honours and awards including appointment as a Companion in the Order of Australia (AC), as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) and as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA).

Details

Chronology

1958

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

1963

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Melbourne

1964

Career position - Research Fellow, Institute of Dental Research, United Dental Hospital of Sydney

January 1967 - June 1967

Career position - Visiting Instructor, Department of Endocrine Physiology, Baylor University, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

July 1967 - December 1967

Career position - Research Fellow, Department of Biochemistry,the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.

1968 - 1969

Career position - Lecturer in Biochemistry, University of Auckland, New Zealand

1969 - 1973

Career position - Research Fellow, Asthma Foundation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Melbourne

1974

Career position - Research Fellow, School of Botany, University of Melbourne

1975 - 1977

Career position - Australian Research Grants Committee (ARGC) Research Fellow, School of Botany, University of Melbourne

1978

Career position - Lecturer in Botany, University of Melbourne

1979

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Botany, University of Melbourne

1981

Career position - Reader in Botany, University of Melbourne

1982 - 1999

Career position - Director, Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, University of Melbourne

1982 - 1999

Career position - Professor of Botany (personal chair), School of Botany, University of Melbourne

December 1986 - December 1991

Career position - Member of the Board, CSIRO

1988

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1991

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1991

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to science and industry, particularly through the application of biotechnology

December 1991 - December 1996

Career position - Chairman of CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)

1992

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

1993 - 1996

Career position - Director, Alcoa of Australia Ltd

1994

Award - Foreign Associate, US National Academy of Sciences

1996 - 2005

Career position - Director, WMC Resources Ltd

1997 - 1998

Career position - President, International Society for Plant molecular Biology

1997 - 2000

Career position - Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria

1998 - 2001

Career position - Director, AMRAD Corporation Limited

1999 - 2005

Career position - Laureate Professor, Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, University of Melbourne

2001

Award - Centenary Medal for outstanding community service, especially as Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria

2001 - 2003

Career position - Ambassador for Biotechnology for Victoria

2004

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - For service to science and academia as a leading international researcher, for the application of economic benefit to scientific discovery, and for mentoring future leaders

2004

Award - President's Medal, Australian and New Zealand Society for Cellular and Developmental Biology

2011 - 2017

Career position - Chancellor, La Trobe University

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Adrienne Clarke interviewed by Ragbir Bhathal for the Australian women scientists oral history project [sound recording], 18 October 1996, TRC 3516; Bhathal, Ragbir Singh (1936 - 2022), Clarke, Adrienne Elizabeth (1938 - ); National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Articles

• 'Adrienne Clarke', WISENET Journal, 29 (July) (1992), http://www.wisenet-australia.org/profiles/aclarke.htm. Details

Books

• Bhathal, Ragbir, Profiles, Australian women scientists (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1999), 191 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Laureate Professor Adrienne Clarke AC FAA FTSE to retire', School of Botany Newsletter (2005), 4. Details

Resources

• 'Clarke, A E (1938-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-591447. Details

See also

• Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Handbook 2001 (Victoria: Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 2001), 271 pp. Details
• Herd, Margaret ed., Who's who in Australia 2002 (Melbourne: Crown Content, 2001), 2020 pp. Details
• Robson, Alexandra K.; Production Manager and Editor eds, Who's who in Australia 2019 (Southbank, Vic.: AAP Directories, 2018), 1788 pp. Details