Hamer, Alan William (1917 - 2012)

Summary

Alan Hamer had a long career with Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (ICIANZ), commencing in research in the early 1940s and rising to be Managing director and Deputy chairman in the 1970s.

His early research and career was in the United Kingdom, at the University of Oxford and with Imperial Chemical Industries (United Kingdom), where he worked on the neutralisation of carbon monoxide to save bomber crews from being poisoned. Later in the war he returned to Australia and working with ICIANZ, helped to design a plant for synthesising phenothiazine from diphenylamine. The plant was started up in 1943 and operated well for 20 years until phenothiazine was superseded by new generations of anthelmintic drugs.

Details

Chronology

1938

Award - Victoria's Rhodes Scholar 1938

1938 - 1941

Education - Magdalen College, University of Oxford

1941

Education - Bachelor of Arts (Chemistry) (Hons), School of Natural Science, University of Oxford

1941 - 1942

Career position - Imperial Chemical Industries (United Kingdom)

1942

Career event - Member, Australian Chemical Institute (MACI)

1942 - 1950

Career position - Chemical engineer, Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (ICIANZ)

1943

Career event - Designed and constructed a plant (with F. Lamont, and I. J. Robinson) for synthesising phenothiazine from diphenylamine

1948

Life event - Married Margaret Angas

1950 - 1956

Career position - Chemical group development manager, Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (ICIANZ)

1956 - 1959

Career position - Technical controller, Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (ICIANZ)

1959 - 1968

Career position - Executive director, Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (ICIANZ)

1968

Career event - Fellow, Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI)

1968 - 1971

Career position - Chairman and Managing Director, Imperial Chemical Industries (UK) companies in India [When Indira Gandhi was fostering a transition from expatriate to national leadership at all levels]

1970s

Career position - Chairman, Consolm Fertilizers Ltd

1970s

Career position - Chairman, Fibremakers

1970s

Career position - Chairman, Australian Fertilizers Ltd

1971 - 1979

Career position - Managing director / Deputy chairman, Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (ICIANZ)

1972 - 1980

Career position - President, Lincoln Institute of Health Science

1977 - 1979

Career position - Chairman, Australian Industrial Development Association

1978 - 1987

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

1980s

Career position - Director, EZ industries

1980s

Career position - Director, Tubemakers of Australia Ltd

1980s

Career position - Director, Reckitt and Colman Australia

1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1978]

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - For service to Australian society in applied chemistry

Related entries

Published resources

Newspaper Articles

• Persse, Michael Collins, 'A fine fit in an illustrious family [Obituary: Alan William Hamer, Industrial chemist, Businessman]', The Age (2012), https://www.theage.com.au/national/a-fine-fit-in-an-illustrious-family-20120820-24ihp.html. Details

Resources

• 'Hamer, A. W.', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475706. 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_h.html. Details