Fellows' biographical memoirs

Professor John Swan AO FAA FTSE was an accomplished organic chemist and academic leader who contributed his expertise to a variety of scientific and policy bodies.

John Oswald Newton was internationally distinguished for his work in nuclear structure and heavy-ion reactions, and played an instrumental role in enhancing Australia’s nuclear science capability.

Paul Wild was an Australian radio astronomer who pioneered solar radio research, invented new instruments, and served as Chairman of CSIRO during its modernisation.

John Philip Baxter was born on 7 May 1905 in Machynlleth, North Wales. His father, John Baxter, was the oldest of four children left fatherless at an early age. He began work as a telegraphist with the British Post Office, studied at night school to become an engineer and eventually, after a series of promotions, was in charge of the South West Region, based in Bristol.

John Anderson was born in Sydney on 5 March 1928 and died in Melbourne on 26 February 2007. He was educated at Sydney Boys’ High School, Sydney Technical College, the New South Wales University of Technology (now the University of New South Wales) and the University of Cambridge.

John Booker was born at Crown Street Hospital in Sydney on the 24 July, 1942. His mother was Beryl Joan Booker (née Nagle) and his father was Jack Edgar Booker, an accountant and teacher. John had a younger sister Judith, who was born in 1950.

This memoir discusses John Philip’s character and his work as Australia’s most distinguished environmental physicist. It explores his management of science and his role in the Australian Academy of Science as well as his poetry and his fascination with architecture.

John Stewart Turner was born in Middlesborough, England on 9 September 1908, second son of Thomas Stewart and Ellen Turner (née Spice). His father was a Government inspector of armour plate. Apart from an older brother he had one sister and two younger brothers. His early childhood was spent in Stockport, Cheshire, where the family lived in a big rambling house with a large garden wonderfully suited to playing games and going for secret walks.

John William White was a pioneer in the application of neutron scattering to chemistry and one of the most influential advocates for neutron facilities globally, particularly in Australia.

Professor Joe Gani was a mathematical statistician who founded the Journal of Applied Probability and led CSIRO's Division of Mathematics and Statistics. His research contributions are dominated by stochastic modelling, especially epidemic theory.