Person
Proud, John Seymour (1907 - 1997)
Kt
- Born
- 9 August 1907
Burwood, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 7 October 1997
Australia - Occupation
- Engineer and Company director
Summary
John Seymour Proud was a distinguished mining engineer, Company Director and benefactor. He was a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Institute of Marketing Management and of the Institute of Engineers Australia. He was also a Life Member of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Proud was Knighted in 1978, had the mineral Proudite named in his honour and received two honorary doctorate degrees.
Details
After working in the family business for a short time, John Seymour Proud enrolled in the University of Sydney where he completed a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Mining and Metallurgy. After several years in research and practical engineering his career switched to the field of management. During his career Proud had numerous jobs including Director of CSIR, Manager of Peko Mines and later Chairman of Peko-Wallsend and was Founder and Chairman of Trustees of the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation. Proud was also a very generous man with an passion for the Arts and environment. He was a major force behind the establishment of Earthwatch Australia and established the Sir John Proud Fund for the purchase of Rare Books.
Proud was extremely lucky to have achieved all this because his life was almost cut short at the age of 29. On a flight between Brisbane and Sydney in 1937 Proud was involved in an airplane crash. He and two of his fellow passengers survived but were badly injured. Not only did they survive the crash, but also the eleven days it took rescuers to find them.
Chronology
- 1937
- Life event - Plane crash in McPherson Ranges during flight between Brisbane and Sydney
- 1943
- Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1960 - 1978
- Career position - Chairman of Peko-Wallsend Ltd
- 1968
- Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Associate Members were designated Members on this date.]
- 1971 - 1977
- Career position - Trustee of the Australian Museum
- 1974
- Award - AusIMM Award, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
- 1974 - 1979
- Career position - Director of CSR Ltd
- 1974 - 1983
- Career position - Fellow of the Senate, University of Sydney
- 1978
- Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Services to the mining industry
- 1978 - 1982
- Career position - Chairman of Electrical Equipment Ltd Group
- 1978 - 1982
- Career position - Chairman of Oil Search Ltd.
- 1978 - 1987
- Career position - Inaugural Chair of the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation
- 1984
- Award - Doctor of Engineering (DEng), honoris causa, University of Sydney
- 1996
- Award - Doctor of Letters (DLitt), honoris causa, Australian National University
Related entries
Archival resources
National Library of Australia
Published resources
Journal Articles
- JCG, 'Sir John Proud 1907-1997', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 130 (3&4) (1997), 120-121. Details
Resources
- 'Proud, John Seymour (1907-1997)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475661. Details
Annette Alafaci
Created: 26 September 2006, Last modified: 21 June 2022