Person
Bartholomai, Alan (1938 - 2015)
AM
- Born
- 17 December 1938
Boonah, Queensland, Australia - Died
- 17 December 2015
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Museum director and Vertebrate palaeontologist
Summary
Alan Bartholomai was Director of the Queensland Museum for 30 years and a palaeontologist renowned particularly as an authority on Cretaceous fish. As Director he oversaw the relocation of Museum, the re-establishment of the Museum's Board (in abeyance since 1907), and the creation of regional branches. He fostered research programs that significantly expanded the recording and understanding Queensland's biodiversity, palaeontological record and cultural heritage. Bartholomai's wider role in Australia's museums included serving on such bodies as the Advisory Committee on Illegal Movement of Cultural Property and the committee for establishing the National Maritime Museum of Australia. In his palaeontological research Bartholomai worked with colleagues on Cenozoic marsupials, fossil turtles, and Triassic vertebrates from Western Australia. With Ralph Molnar he described the Australian dinosaur Muttaburrasaurus. In retirement he returned to his research on the fish faunas of the Great Australian Basin. Many of the groups for which he produced major reviews had not previously been recorded from the southern hemisphere and hence provided insights into the palaeogeography of Cretaceous fish faunas.
Details
Chronology
- 1960
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Queensland
- 1960 - 1966
- Career position - Curator of Geology, Queensland Museum Curator of Geology, Queensland Museum
- 1966 - 1968
- Career position - Research Curator (Geology), Queensland Museum
- 1969
- Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Queensland
- 1969 - 1999
- Career position - Member, Council of Australian Museum Directors
- 1969 - 1999
- Career position - Director, Queensland Museum
- 1970
- Career position - President, Royal Society of Queensland
- 1973
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Queensland
- 1985 - 1987
- Career position - Chairman, Council of Australian Museum Directors
- 1994 - 1999
- Career position - Member of the Board, CRC for Tropical Rainforest and Ecology and Management
- 1999 - 2015
- Career position - Emeritus Director, Queensland Museum
- 2000
- Award - Queensland Museum Medal
- 2012
- Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the advancement of science, particularly through administrative roles with the Queensland Museum
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- 'Congratulations: Australia Day honours', TAG: the Australian geologist, 162 (2012), 40. Details
- Anon, 'Obituary of Dr Alan Bartholomai 1938 - 2015', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 122 (2017), 113. Details
- Rozefelds, Andrew C. F., 'In memoriam Alan Bartholomai (1938 - 2015)', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum: Nature, 60 (2017), 119-31. Details
Resources
- 'Bartholomai, Alan (19381217-20151217)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1715783. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 21 November 2017, Last modified: 11 November 2021