Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Oliphant, Marcus Laurence Elwin
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Professor (Sir) Mark Oliphant KBE BSc(Adel) MA PhD (Cambridge) LLD (St Andrews) FRSNZ FAA FRS
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1901 - 2000
History
Sir Mark Oliphant was born on 8 October 1901 at Kent Town, South Australia.
Oliphant received his BS (University of Adelaide) in 1926; PhD Physics (Cambridge University) in 1929. He taught and worked alongside Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand-born physicist, as Assistant Director of Research, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge in 1935. From 1937 to 1950 Oliphant was Poynting Professor of Physics, University of Birmingham. He was a member of the UN Official International Atomic Energy Commission from 1946-1947, and member of the Academic Advisory Committee of the Australian National University from 1947-1950. In 1950 he was appointed as the first Director of the Research School of Physical Sciences, Australian National University. He was a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1954, and the academy’s first President from 1954 to 1957.He continued his association with the ANU as Professor and Head of Particle Physics, 1954–1964; Professor, Physics of Ionised Gases Unit at the ANU, 1964–1967. From 1971-1976 he was Governor of South Australia. Oliphant was the recipient of numerous fellowships, honorary doctorates and awards including Fellow of the Royal Society 1937; Faraday Medal, Institution of Electrical Engineers 1948; Matthew Flinders Medal, Australian Academy of Science 1961; Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering 1975; ANZAAS Medal 1979. Oliphant died in Canberra on 14 July 2000.
Places
Birmingham; Cambridge; South Australia
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
academic; nuclear physicist; state politician; university administrator
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General context
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Rules and/or conventions used
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Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Entered from deposit description on 29 May 2012
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Sources
Australian National University Calendars
Bright Sparcs Biographical entry, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000683b.htm (accessed on 18 November 2011)
Australian Academy of Science, http://www.science.org.au/fellows/memoirs/oliphant.html (accessed on 18 November 2011)
Obituaries Australia, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/oliphant-sir-marcus-laurence-mark-782 (accessed on 18 November 2011)