Fellows' biographical memoirs

G. E. (Tim) Wall was one of Australia’s leading algebraists, whose work intersected many of the important algebraic themes of his era (roughly 1960–95).

Graeme Caughley studied the interactions between large mammalian herbivores and the environments they occupy. The pattern of population growth that can be predicted theoretically from such a relationship is both complex and variable. He argued that the dynamics of mammalian herbivore populations are comprehensible only in terms of an interactive relationship between the herbivores and vegetation. He further argued that efficient management of such systems requires an understanding of the underlying mechanisms whereby the animals react to the plants and in turn the plants react dynamically to the effects of grazing.

Bill Ellis made pioneering discoveries in the field of low-frequency radio observations, focused on radio waves in the ionosphere and the detection of radio emissions from the Sun, the galactic disk and Jupiter.

Gregory Maxwell (‘Max’) Kelly (1930–2007) was educated at the University of Sydney (BSc 1951 with First Class Honours, University Medal for Mathematics, Barker Prize, and James King of Irrawang Travelling Scholarship) and the University of Cambridge (BA 1953 with First Class Honours and two Wright’s Prizes; Rayleigh Prize, 1955; PhD 1957).

Guy Kendall White led a productive research career as a condensed matter experimental physicist, focusing on transport and thermophysical properties of solids at low temperatures. He was influential in the development of the discipline of solid state physics in Australia.

Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science and Fellowship of the Australian College of Education are formal recognition of Hanna Neumann's impact on a country she had first set foot in only in August 1963. But then, Hanna Neumann was a remarkable person. Throughout her life she had won the love and respect of many people.

Hans Freeman was a leading figure in X-ray crystallography and other advanced X-ray techniques in Australia and internationally. He played an important role in gaining access for Australian scientists to international facilities such as synchrotron radiation sources at the dawning of the era of ‘Big Science’.

Henry Oliver Lancaster made landmark discoveries linking UV radiation to melanoma and rubella to congenital deafness, while transforming mathematical statistics.

With the death of Herbert Cole ('Nugget') Coombs on 29 October 1997, Australia lost its greatest public servant, a man who spent his life as an employee of the Commonwealth initiating major civilizing activities in economic and cultural fields, and after his retirement became a great champion of the rights of Aboriginal Australians.

Herbert George Andrewartha was born in Perth on 21 December 1907, the second of three children of George and Elsie Andrewartha. His father was a primary-school teacher, later a headmaster. The family moved often to country towns in Western Australia where his father was posted, but they maintained a base in a small farm at Gosnells, about 40 km from Perth.