Francis, Arthur James (1914 - 2008)

Summary

Professor Arthur Francis, MCE MSc PhD DEng MInstCE MIStructE FIEAust, was Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Melbourne from 1951 to 1969. He worked closely, and was friends with, some of the leading architects of the time, including Osborne McCutcheon, Roy Grounds, Robin Boyd and Peter McIntyre. He was the consulting engineer for the design of the Australian Academy of Science domed building in Canberra; influenced the change to building regulations in Melbourne that abandoned the set height limit; and was on many panels that supported the buildings for the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

With colleagues at the University he developed composite piles for bridge supports. These were incorporated into the design for the Captain Cook Bridge in Sydney by John Holland Constructions. With an overall length of 220 ft, they consisted of 20 inch square pre-stressed concrete upper sections joined to 14 x 14 1/2 inch steel H piles. At the time (1962), they were claimed to be the longest driven piles in the world; they may well remain the most slender.

In the 1970s, he travelled widely overseas and worked on educational projects in developing countries - with UNESCO to establish an engineering faculty at Trabzon in Turkey, and an appropriate technology unit at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. He spent two years as pro-vice chancellor at the University of Lae in PNG, and in 1980 returned to the University of Melbourne to run new technology courses, as the Co-ordinator, Appropriate Technology Section, Faculty of Engineering.

His distinguished career was acknowledged when he was awarded the Kernot Memorial Medal for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia in 1983, as well as an Honorary Doctor of Engineering in 1983 by the University of Melbourne.

Details

Chronology

1935

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

1935 - 1945

Career position - Civil engineer, Design and Construction

1946 - 1950

Career position - Lecturer, Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham

c. 1950

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

1951

Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1951 - 1969

Career position - Professor of Civil and Agricultural Engineering, University of Melbourne

1956 - 1958

Career position - Dean of Engineering, University of Melbourne

1968

Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Members were designated Fellows on this date.]

1969

Award - R W Chapman Medal, Institution of Engineers Australia

1970

Life event - Retired from the University of Melbourne

c. 1974

Career position - Established an engineering faculty, Trabzon, Turkey. With UNESCO.

c. 1976

Career position - Appropriate Technology Unit, University of Nairobi, Kenya. With UNESCO.

c. 1978 - c. 1980

Career position - Pro-vice Chancellor, University of Lae, PNG

1980

Career position - Co-ordinator, Appropriate Technology Section, Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne

1983

Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne

1983

Award - Doctor of Engineering (DEng), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

Related entries

Published resources

Conference Papers

• Francis, A. J.; and Mansell, D. S., 'Technology for Development: How Australian Engineering Schools Can Help.', in First International Conference on Technology for Development 1980: Preprints of Papers (Barton, ACT: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1980), pp. 98-102., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.611887550361195. Details

Journal Articles

• Francis, A. J., 'Mr A. G. M. Michell, F.R.S. [Obituary]', Nature, 183 (4677) (1959), 1714-5, https://doi.org/10.1038/1831714a0. Details
• Francis, A. J., 'Single Cables Subjected to Loads', Civil Engineering Transactions, 7 (1965), 173. Details
• Francis, A. J.; and Stevens, L. K., 'Struts ln Triangulated Frames', Civil Engineering Transactions, 3 (1961), 1. Details
• O'Brien, William, 'Prof. A. J. Francis: man and the environment', Cranks and nuts magazine (1970), 48-49, http://hdl.handle.net/11343/274969. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Francis, David, 'A bridge-builder in all spheres. [Obituary: Arthur James Francis 1914-2008]', The Age (2008), 11, https://www.theage.com.au/national/a-bridgebuilder-in-all-spheres-20081104-5hr2.html. Details

Reports

• Institution of Engineers Australia, Fifty-first Annual Report [1970] (1971), 7 pp. 'Prizes - R. W. Chapman Medal (1969 Award), to Professor A J Francis, FIEAust, for his paper entitled "Structural Brickwork Research in Relation to the SAA Brickwork Code"', p.3. Details

Resources

• 'Francis, A J (1914-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1235413. Details
• 'Awarded honorary DEng, 1983', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. 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_f.html. Details