Fellows' biographical memoirs

From humble beginnings, Roy Woodall formed and led the team that became Australia’s greatest discoverer of ore deposits, including Olympic Dam, while he was recognised internationally as an icon in the mineral exploration world.

Sir Rupert Horace Myers was a materials scientist and one of the first people to be awarded a PhD from an Australian university. As a university administrator, he was a model of scientific and academic leadership.

Sir Rutherford Ness (Bob) Robertson was one of Australia's most distinguished, influential and respected scientists. He was eminent both for his contributions to scientific thought and knowledge and for the remarkable range of activities he undertook in the cause of science. His contributions to our understanding of the bioenergetics of inorganic ion transport in plant cells were widely recognised. In his other life he served in a number of key administrative-managerial positions, was the prime mover in a variety of major initiatives that had critical and lasting impacts on the development of Australian science and was a trusted friend and adviser to a generation of younger plant scientists. Known universally as Bob and almost universally addressed as such, it would seem odd and almost disrespectful not to refer to him in this way here.

Professor Sidney Charles Bartholomew Gascoigne AO FAA was an Aotearoa New Zealand-born astronomer whose distinguished career was carried out mostly in Australia. He is known for his work developing and commissioning the Anglo–Australian Telescope.

Professor S. Warren Carey (as he preferred to be known) personified a philosophy of synthesis/integration that lies at the heart of large-scale disciplines such as geology and astronomy.

Professor Sally Smith was a botanist and mycologist recognised as a world authority on the mycorrhizal symbiosis between plants and fungi.

Professor Scott Sloan AO FAA FTSE FRS was a geotechnical engineer and internationally renowned expert in soil stability analysis who pioneered new methods to predict the collapse states of geostructures.

Dr Sefton Hamann FAA was an internationally recognised chemist who studied how pressure transforms materials. He helped invent Australia's counterfeit-resistant polymer banknotes and their security features.

Sever Sternhell was a prominent figure in Australian organic chemistry, academia and public life for more than forty years.

Shirley Jeffrey was a pioneer in oceanographic research, identifying chlorophyll c, and was a worldwide leader in the application of pigment methods to quantify phytoplankton as the foundation of the oceanic food supply.