Zillman, John William (1939 - )

Summary

John Zillman was Director of the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology from 1978 to 2003. He joined the Bureau of Meteorology in 1957 initially as a cadet meteorologist in Brisbane. Zillman then served as a forecaster in the Sydney and Brisbane regional offices, before moving to Melbourne in 1966. He coordinated Australia's participation in the 1979 Global Weather Experiment and negotiated the strengthening of the research role of the Bureau in the early 1980s. He has served two terms as President of the World Meteorological Organization, and has been Australia's principal delegate on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1994. The Zillman Medal has been awarded by the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society since 2015.

Details

Chronology

? - 2015

Career position - Chairman, Advisory Board, Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research

1957 - ?

Career position - Cadet Meteorologist, Bureau of Meteorology in Brisbane

1960

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

1961

Education - Bachelor of Science Honors (BScHons), University of Queensland

1966

Career position - Moved to the Southern Hemisphere Analysis Centre, Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne

1966 - 1969

Career position - Senior Meteorologist, International Antarctic Meteorological Research Centre

1969

Career position - Supervising Meteorologist, Synoptic Research Branch

1970

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

1972

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

1972

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Wisconsin, USA

1972 - 1974

Career position - Superintendent of Physical Research, Bureau of Meteorology

1974 - 1978

Career position - Assistant Director of Research, Bureau of Meteorology

1977 - 1978

Career position - Chairman, Royal Meteorological Society Australian Branch

1978 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Institute of Physics

1978 - 2003

Career position - Director, Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology

1978 - 2004

Career position - Permanent Representative for Australia, World Meteorological Organization

1979 - 2004

Career position - Member, Executive Council, World Meteorological Organization

1980 - 1987

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

1981 - 1985

Career position - Member, Australian Marine Sciences and Technologies Advisory Committee (AMSTAC)

1983 - 1984

Career position - Chair, Victorian Branch, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1985 - 1986

Career position - Chair, Victorian Division, Australian Institute of Physics

1985 - 1988

Career position - Member, Antarctic Science Advisory Committee

1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1980]

1987 - 1995

Career position - First Vice President, World Meteorological Organization

1989 - 2003

Career position - Member, Coordinating Committee on Science and Technology

1990 - 1994

Career position - Honorary Secretary, Australian Academy of Technological Science and Technology

1993 - 1994

Career position - President, Royal Society of Victoria

1993 - 1996

Career position - Member, Australian Space Council

1994 - 2003

Career position - Principal Delegate of Australia, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

1994 - 2003

Career position - Chairman, Commonwealth Heads of Marine Agencies

1995 - 1998

Career position - Vice-President, Australian Academy of Technological Science and Technology

1995 - 2003

Career position - President, World Meteorological Organization

1996

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - For service to meteorology and oceanography, particularly as director of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and president of the World Meteorological Organization

2000 -

Career position - Honorary Professorial Fellow, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - for service to Australian society in meteorology, oceanography and environmental science

2002 - 2008

Career position - Member, National Commission for UNESCO

2003 - 2006

Career position - President, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering

2003 - 2006

Career position - Member, Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council

2005

Career position - President, International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS)

2005

Award - International Meteorological Organization Prize, World Meteorological Organization

2005 - 2006

Career position - President, National Academies Forum

2006

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

2006 - 2009

Career position - Chairman, International Steering Committee for Global Climate Observing System (GCOS

2009 - 2103

Career position - Vice-Chancellor's Fellow, University of Melbourne

2011 -

Award - Honorary Fellow, Royal Meteorological Society, United Kingdom

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Zillman, John W., A Hundred Years of Science and Service (Melbourne: Bureau of Meteorology, 2001), 20 pp, http://www.bom.gov.au/info/100_years.pdf. Details

Journal Articles

• 'What the Others are Doing: Bureau Profile 4 - Taking the World View', Weather News, 170 (October 1970) (1970), 5-6. Details
• 'Dr John Zillman', Weather News, 243 (December 1978) (1978), 4-5. Details
• Jones, Barry O., Green, Roy M. and Zillman, John W., 'Professor William (Greg) John McGregor Tegart AM FTSE', Impact: magazine of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 216 (2024), 65, https://www.atse.org.au/what-we-do/strategic-advice/impact-216/. Details
• McDougall, Trevor; Church, John; and Zillman, John, 'Vale Dr Angus McEwan FAA FTSE', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, Supplement (2018), 8, https://view.joomag.com/bamos-vol-31-special-issue-october-2018-bulletin-vol-31-special-issue-01-2018/0218810001540846020?short. Details
• Voice, Mary and Zillman, John, 'Rosea Lillian Kemp 1941-2015', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 29 (2016), 17-9. Details
• Zillman, J., 'A fascination with the atmosphere and its ways - the life of W. J. Gibbs', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 18 (2005), 34-8. Details
• Zillman, John, 'Some reflections on the past twenty five years', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 16 (4) (2003), 80-93. Details
• Zillman, John, 'Some parting thoughts', ATSE focus, 143 (2006), 12-4, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3171652084. Details
• Zillman, John, 'Von Neumayer and the Origins of Australian and International Meteorology', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 123 (2011), 70-7. Details
• Zillman, John, 'Obituary: Professor Peter Schwerdtfeger, 23 December 1935-20 August 2013', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 26 (5) (2013), 85. Details
• Zillman, John, 'Vale Henry Phillpot (1919 - 2018): sixty years in meteorology', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 32 (1) (2019), 10-2. Details
• Zillman, John W., 'The remarkable German contribution to Australian meteorology', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 127 (1) (2015), 110-6, https://doi.org/10.1071/RS15013. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Zillman, John, 'Towering figure in world weather watch', The Age (2005), 12. Details
• Zillman, John and Rosel, Mike, 'Henry Phillpot: meteorologist of fire and ice', Sydney Morning Herald (2019). https://www.smh.com.au/national/henry-phillpot-meteorologist-of-fire-and-ice-20190220-p50z0r.html. Details

Resources

• 'John Zillman - Citation at year of election, 2006', Fellows of the Academy, Australian Academy of Science, 2019, https://www.science.org.au/profile/john-zillman. Details
• Inspiration for Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society awards, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 2022. https://www.amos.org.au/activities/awards/inspiration-for-awards/. Details
• 'Zillman, J W (19390728-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1307376. Details

See also

• Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/index_z.html. Details
• Robson, Alexandra K.; Production Manager and Editor eds, Who's who in Australia 2019 (Southbank, Vic.: AAP Directories, 2018), 1788 pp. Details