Callinan, Bernard James (1913 - 1995)

Summary

Sir Bernard Callinan had a distinguished civil engineer career with the consulting engineering firm Gutteridge Haskins and Davey over 44 years, retiring as chairman and managing director in 1978. As president of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1971, he helped cement unity between it and the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia, and the Association of Professional Engineers. In 1971 he was awarded a CBE in recognition of service to civil engineering, and was knighted in 1977.

He also had a distinguished military career during and after the Second World War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and being mentioned in despatches and awarded MC and DSO.

He continued to provide leadership and was the Commissioner or Chairman of many organisations, including the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, the Parliament House Construction Authority and the Westgate Bridge Authority. His leadership was again acknowledged in 1986 when he was awarded an AC in recognition of service to the Public Service and the community.

The Sir Bernard Callinan Bar (Melbourne Cricket Club) and the Sir Bernard Callinan Board Room (Australian Catholic University, Melbourne) are named in his honour.

Details

Other community roles include:
* President, Melbourne Cricket Club
* Trustee, Melbourne Cricket Ground

Chronology

1934 -

Career position - Assistant engineer, A Gordon Gutteridge, consulting engineers

1934

Career event - Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1935

Education - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE), University of Melbourne

1939

Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1940 - 1946

Military service - Second World War. Lieutenant rising to Lieutenant Colonel, 26th Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces

1943

Award - Military Cross (MC)

1946

Award - Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) - Army, South West Pacific

1946 - 1971

Career position - Manager, Victorian and Tasmanian Branches, Gutteridge Haskins and Davey (GHD) consulting engineers

1948 - 1951

Military service - Lieutenant Colonel, in command of 58/32 Infantry Battalion, Citizens Military Force (CMF)

1951

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

1960 - 1961

Career position - Chairman, Melbourne Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1960 - 1966

Career position - Chairman, Water Research Foundation of Victoria

1963 - 1968

Career position - Commissioner, State Electricity Commission of Victoria

1965 - 1981

Career position - Member of Faculty of Engineeering, University of Melbourne

1965 - 1982

Career position - Member, West Gate Bridge Authority

1967 - 1969

Career position - Deputy chancellor, La Trobe University

1968

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

1971

Career position - President, Institution of Engineers Australia

1971

Award - Commander of The Order of the British Empire (CBE) - In recognition of service to civil engineering

1971 - 1978

Career position - Chairman and Managing Director, Gutteridge Haskins and Davey (GHD) consulting engineers

1971 - 1982

Career position - Chairman, West Gate Bridge Authority

1972

Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia

1972 - 1974

Career position - Honorary Colonel, 4/19 Prince of Wales's Light Horse Regiment

1973 - 1974

Career position - Commissioner, Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Australian Post Office [that split the Post Office into Telecom and Australia Post]

1974 -

Career position - Chairman, Institute of Catholic Education in Victoria

1976 - 1981

Career position - Councillor of the University of Melbourne

1976 - 1983

Career position - Commissioner, Australian Atomic Energy Commission

1977

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt)

1977 - 1983

Career position - Commissioner, Australian Broadcasting Commission

1977 - 1984

Career position - Member of the Pontifical Commission for Peace and Justice in Rome

1977 - 1987

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

1978

Life event - Retired

1979 - 1983

Career position - Chairman, Parliament House Construction Authority, Canberra

1981

Award - Honorary Fellow (HonFIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1982

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

1984

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

1986

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - In recognition of service to the Public Service and the community

1986 - 1992

Career position - President, Royal Humane Society of Australasia

1987

Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1977]

1991

Career position - Took a leading role to form the Australian Catholic University

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Arneil, Stan Foch, A Firm Foundation: The Story of Gutteridge Haskins and Davey, Consulting Engineers 1928 -1988 (Railway Square, NSW: Gutteridge Haskins & Davey, 1988), xiii, 288 pp. Details
• Callinan, Bernard, Sir John Monash (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1981). Details

Book Sections

• Wray, Christopher, 'Callinan, Sir Bernard James (1913-1995), army officer and civil engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 130-132, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/callinan-sir-bernard-james-28251. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1972 Award [Bernard James Callinan]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 44 (October-November) (1972), 19. Details
• Anon, 'Two new Honorary Fellows elected [Sir Bernard Callinan, Prof W.N Christiansen]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 53 (13) (1981), 56. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Sir Bernard Callinan : Engineer, Soldier, Writer, Businessman', The Chartered Engineer Victoria (1977), 7. Details
• Lloyd, Brian, 'Obituary: One of our great engineers [Bernard James Callinan (1913 - 1995)]', Engineers Australia (1995), 15. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Lloyd, Brian, 'Life of Leadership Touches Many [Obituary: Bernard James Callinan (1913 - 1995)]', The Age (1995), 14. Details

Reports

• Institution of Engineers Australia, Annual Report 1981 [Sixty-second Annual Report] (1982), 16 pp. 'Institution Honours - Sir Bernard Callinan, CBE DSO MC FIEAust elected Honorary Fellow', p.11. Details

Resources

• 'Awarded honorary LLD, 1987', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details

See also

• Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers Australia, 2019), 136 pp. 'A Life of Service - Sir Bernard Callinan' p.78. Details