Person
Banks, Maxwell Robert (1925 - 2014)
AM
- Born
- 21 July 1925
Punchbowl, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 24 November 2014
Hobart?, Tasmania, Australia - Occupation
- Geologist
Summary
Maxwell Banks was an expert on geology of Tasmania, especially Ordovician and Permo-Triassic periods. His research led to major advances in understanding the geology and resources of Tasmania, and won national recognition. He had an extensive knowledge of the early study of Tasmanian geology especially by French and English explorers. Banks was a long-serving member of the Royal Society of Tasmania, holding various offices between 1966 and 1996, including Editor of the Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania for 27 years. He published prolifically, including in education. The genera Banksiaporites and Banksiops and 13 species were named in his honour. In 1998 the Royal Society of Tasmania awarded the inaugural M. R. Banks Medal.
Details
Chronology
- 1947
- Award - University of Sydney medallist
- 1947
- Award - Deas-Thompson Scholarship for Geology, University of Sydney
- 1947
- Career position - Demonstrator, Department of Geology, University of Tasmania
- 1947
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney
- 1948 - 1952
- Career position - Lecturer, University of Tasmania
- 1952 - 1966
- Career position - Senior Lecturer, University of Tasmania
- 1958 - 1967
- Career position - Council Member, Australian Institution of Cartographers
- 1960
- Career position - President, Australian Institution of Cartographers
- 1965 - 1966
- Career position - President, Geological Society of Australia
- 1966 - 1968
- Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1966 - 1990
- Career position - Reader, Department of Geology, University of Tasmania
- 1971 - 1973
- Career position - Vice-President, Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1973 - 1975
- Career position - Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Tasmania
- 1973 - 2000
- Career position - Editor, Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1974 - 1984
- Career position - Member of the Board of the Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery, as the representative of the Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1977
- Award - Honorary Doctorate, University of Lille, France
- 1978
- Award - Royal Society of Tasmania Medal
- 1978
- Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Tasmania
- 1979 - 1984
- Career position - Chairman, Board of the Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery
- 1981
- Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of service to the community and science
- 1986 - 2014
- Award - Life Member, Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1990
- Life event - Retired
- 1992 - 2014
- Award - Honorary Life Member, Geological Society of Australia
- 1993 - 1994
- Career position - Vice-President, Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1995 - 1996
- Career position - Honorary Secretary, Royal Society of Tasmania
- 1998
- Award - M. R. Banks Medal first awarded by the Royal Society of Tasmania
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Plomley, Brian; Cornell, Christine; and Banks, Max, Francois Peron's natural history of Maria Island, Tasmania (Launceston, Tas.: Queen Victoria Museum, 1990), 50 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Banks, Maxwell R., 'Loftus-Hills, Clive (1885-1967), geologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 10: 1891 - 1939 Lat-Ner, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), p. 132. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100123b.htm. Details
Conference Papers
- Banks, M. R., 'Geological Torchbearers in Tasmania, 1840-1890 - Two Amateurs and a Professional', in Useful and Curious Geological Enquiries Beyond the World: Pacific-Asia Historical Themes: The 19th International INHIGEO Symposium, Sydney, Australia, 4-8 July, 1994 edited by D. F. Branagan and G. H. McNally (Sydney: International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences, 1994), pp. 214-230.. Details
Edited Books
- Banks, M. R. [and others] ed., Aspects of Tasmanian botany : a tribute to Winifred Curtis (Hobart: Royal Society of Tasmania, 1991), 247 pp. Details
- Banks. M. R.; and Kirkpatrick, J. B. eds, Landscape and man : the interaction between man and environment in western Tasmania (Hobart: Royal Society of Tasmania, 1977), 199 pp. Details
Journal Articles
- Bacon, C. A.; and Banks, M. R., 'A history of discovery, study and exploitation of coal in Tasmania', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 123 (1989), 137-89. Details
- Banks, M., 'Fossil Discoveries in Van Diemen's Land', Bulletin of the Fossil Collectors' Association of Australasia, 32-33 (1991), 13-20. Details
- Banks, Max, 'Charles Darwin's Visit to Hobart Town', Tasmanian Tramp, 24 (1982), 180-186. Details
- Quilty, Patrick G., 'Maxwell Robert Banks 21 July 1925 - 24 November 2014', TAG: Geological Society of Australia Newsletter, 174 (2015), 42-3. Details
- Quilty, Patrick G.; and Banks, Maxwell R., 'Samuel Warren Carey 1911-2002', Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (3) (2003), 313-335. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR03005. Details
- Quilty, Patrick M., 'Obituary: Maxwell Robert Banks AM, D.Sc., D.H.C. (Lille), 21 July 1925 - 24 October 2014', Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 148 (2014), 71-6. Details
Resources
- 'Banks, Maxwell (19250721-20141124)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1772588. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 10 January 2023