Oliphant, Marcus Laurence Elwin

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

      Mandates/sources of authority

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

      Relationships area

      Related entity

      Research School of Physics and Engineering (1948 -)

      Identifier of related entity

      Category of relationship

      associative

      Dates of relationship

      1950 - 1963

      Description of relationship

      Director

      Related entity

      Academic Advisory Committee (1947 - 1951)

      Identifier of related entity

      Category of relationship

      associative

      Dates of relationship

      1947 - 1950

      Description of relationship

      Member, Academic Advisory Committee

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Occupations

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Entered from deposit description on 29 May 2012

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          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)

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