Thompson, Percival Faraday (c. 1885 - 1951)

Summary

Percival Thompson was demonstrator, lecturer and senior lecturer in metallurgy at the University of Melbourne from 1918-1941. During World War II he worked as a part-time investigator with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), into corrosion of aircraft cooling systems. He also worked at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) Division of Aeronautics for a number of years.

Details

Studying chemistry and mathematics at the Working Men's College, Percival Faraday Thompson developed his interest in food chemistry. He completed a Public Analyst's Diploma in 1911 to gain recognition under the Victorian Board of Health regulations. Despite this, Thompson did not go into food research, but remained at the college for 12 years, lecturing in all branches of technical and theoretical chemistry. In 1918 he joined the University of Melbourne as a demonstrator in metallurgy. Two years later he was promoted to lecturer, then senior lecturer. He also filled in as Professor of Metallurgy for a short time.

He retired from lecturing in 1941, worked on corrosion chemistry for the RAAF and CSIR during World War II, then joined the Division of Aeronautics at CSIRO in 1949. There he continued his research into metal corrosion, becoming one of Australia's few experts in the field. Percival Thompson was a member of many scientific societies in Victoria and was president of the Society of Chemical Industry of Victoria in 1924 and 1925, Chairman of their Analytical Group and Committee Member of the Chemical Engineering Group. Thompson was made an Associate in 1917 and elected Fellow in 1941.

Chronology

1906 - 1918

Career position - Lecturer in Chemistry, Melbourne Working Men's College

1911

Education - Public Analyst's Diploma, Working Men's College, Melbourne

1914 - 1916

Career position - Member, Society of Chemical Industry of Victoria

1917 - 1940

Career position - Associate, Society of Chemical Industry of Victoria

1918 - 1920

Career position - Demonstrator in Metallurgy, University of Melbourne

1920 - 1941

Career position - Lecturer then Senior Lecturer and one time Acting Professor, University of Melbourne

1924 - 1925

Career position - President, Society of Chemical Industry of Victoria

1941 - c. 1951

Career position - Fellow, Society of Chemical Industry of Victoria (FSCI)

c. 1942 - c. 1944

Career position - Metallurgist for the RAAF and CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)

1945 - ?

Career position - Metallurgist for the Division of Aeronautics at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)

Related entries

Published resources

Resources

• 'Thompson, Percival Faraday (1885-1951)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1474272. 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_t.html. Details