Alan Forrest Reid 1931–2013

Dr Alan Reid is remembered as the founding father of automated mineralogy. He achieved international recognition as a research scientist, and was also a visionary leader within CSIRO, Australia's largest scientific organisation. 

Reid contributed a distinguished body of basic research to solid state chemistry, publishing on organometallics, thermodynamics, crystal structures, high pressure minerals and mineral processing. He went on to lead development of processes that greatly benefited industry. These included the solar absorber surface AMCRO, and the QEM*SEM analysis that automatically characterised mineral assemblages. 

As an Institute Director at CSIRO he made important contributions to the structure and business processes of the organisation, during a period of upheaval unprecedented in its history. It was Reid's leadership and perseverance that led to the establishment of the Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies, the Australian Resources Research Centre in Western Australia, and major redevelopment of the CSIRO site at North Ryde in NSW. 

A master of broad collaboration with researchers, academics, companies and government agencies, when he retired from CSIRO Reid further benefited Australian science as a consultant to government and industry. 

The mineral reidite, a high pressure phase of ZrSiO4, is named after this tireless polymath.

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About this memoir

This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 27(2), 2016. It was written by K. Reid.