Leslie H. Martin

Professor Sir Leslie H. Martin
Born (1900-12-21)21 December 1900
Footscray, Victoria
Died 1 February 1983(1983-02-01) (aged 82)
Residence Australia
England
Citizenship Australian
Fields Physics
Institutions University of Melbourne, Australian Universities Commission, University of New South Wales
Alma mater University of Melbourne, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford
Doctoral advisor Ernest Rutherford
Other academic advisors T. H. Laby
Notable awards Fellow of the Royal Society[1]

Professor Sir Leslie Harold Martin CBE, FAA, FRS[1] (21 December 1900 – 1 February 1983) was an Australian physicist and Higher Education Advisor. He was one of the 24 Founding fellow of the Australian Academy of Science[2] and had a significant influence on the structure of Higher Education in Australia.[3]

Early days

Martin was born 21 December 1900 in Footscray, in Melbourne. He won a Junior State Scholarship to Melbourne High School for his final years of secondary schooling. His mathematics teacher, Miss Julia Flynn, encouraged him; he won a Victorian Education Department Senior Government Scholarship and commenced a BSc at the University of Melbourne with the scholarship. In 1921, in the final year of the course for the BSc degree, he came top of his year with first class honours in Natural Philosophy (physics) and was awarded the Dixson Scholarship in Natural Philosophy. In 1922, under the supervision of Professor T. H. Laby, he completed a master's degree in Science obtaining first class honours and both the Dixson and Kernot Scholarships.[4]

Family

Academic career

Cambridge

In 1923, Martin won an Overseas Scholarship of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to study at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, under Ernest Rutherford who himself was an 1851 Exhibition Science Research Scholar. Martin completed his PhD in 1926. The results of this work were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London and the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. He was awarded an International Research Fellowship of the Rockefeller Foundation.[4]

Natural Philosophy

In 1927 Martin was Lecturer and then in 1937 Associate Professor in Natural Philosophy[2] at the University of Melbourne. In 1934, he won the coveted David Syme Research Prize.[5]

War

With the outbreak of World War II Martin commenced projects at the request of the Australian Military. In January 1942, Martin was seconded to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Radiophysics Laboratory in Sydney to develop secret valves for Radio Direction Finder, the precursor to Radar.[4]

Physics

In 1945 he became Professor of Physics at the University of Melbourne until 1959. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research created the Atomic Physics Section in 1947 led by Martin at the University of Melbourne. In 1948 he became a member of the Interim Council of the Australian National University.[4] He was president of the Australian Branch of the Institute of Physics in 1952–53. From 1953 to 1963 he was a Trustee of the Science Museum of Victoria and its chairman in 1962 and 1963. He became a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1954 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1957.[1] For his work in education and defence he was made a Companion of the Order of the British Empire in 1954. In 1957 he was a Pro-Vice-chancellor for the University of Melbourne. Martin was knighted in 1957 to honour his outstanding contributions to science.[2] Some of his many other posts at this time included a Defence Scientific Adviser and Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Policy Committee and Commissioner of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission.[2]

Australian Universities Commission

Martin was the full-time chairman of the Australian Universities Commission in August 1959 until he retired in 1966.[6] He oversaw a rapid expansion of Australian higher education, including the commencement of five new universities. In 1961 he became Chairman of the Committee on the Future Development of Tertiary Education in Australia. The Committee’s advice led to a formalised ‘binary divide’ between the universities, as research and teaching institutions, and other higher education teaching institutions, mostly colleges of advanced education.[3]

Military education

The links between his academic activities and his defence activities led him to work for the establishment of the Royal Australian Air Force Academy as an affiliated college of the University of Melbourne[7] in 1961.[8]

In 1967 Martin became the chairman of the government's Tertiary Education (Services' Cadet Colleges) Committee that began planning for the Australian Defence Force Academy.[4] During this year he also became Professor of Physics and the first Dean of the Faculty of Military Studies for the University of New South Wales, at the Royal Military College, Duntroon until he retired in 1971.

Retirement

At first he and Lady Martin lived quietly in Canberra but then moved back to Melbourne where they could be near their four much-loved grandchildren. Martin suffered a stroke in 1979. He made a remarkable recovery from his first stroke.[4] He died unexpectedly 1 February 1983.

LH Martin Institute

The University of Melbourne formed the LH Martin Institute on 30 August 2007.[9] The Institute is interdisciplinary and has as its key objectives:

Sir Leslie Martin Prize

In 1971 RMC Duntroon established the Sir Leslie Martin Prize which has been awarded every year until 1985, and from then at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) since 1986 to the present. The prize is awarded for 'distinguished performance by a First Year Officer Cadet in First Year Physics' from all streams, that is, all Physics, Engineering and Arts students who take Physics I.[3]

Career Highlights[2]

Publications[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Caro, D. E.; Martin, R. L.; Oliphant, M. (1987). "Leslie Harold Martin. 21 December 1900-1 February 1983". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 33: 388. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1987.0015. JSTOR 769958.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Martin, Leslie Harold (1900–1983)". The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre. 1994. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 "LH Martin". LH Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Management. 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Caro, D.E.; Martin, R.L. (1987). "Leslie Harold Martin 1900–1983". Historical Records of Australian Science (Australian Academy of Science) 7 (1): 97–107. doi:10.1071/HR9870710097. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  5. ↑ "David Syme Research Prize". Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne. 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  6. ↑ DEET; (prepared under the direction of Michael Gallagher, then first assistant secretary of DEET's higher education division) (1993). National report on Australia's higher education sector (PDF). Canberra: AGPS. p. 400.
  7. ↑ "The Heritage Gallery – Point Cook". RAAF. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  8. ↑ Kysela, Robert. "RAAF Point Cook". Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  9. ↑ "Launch and Colloquium". Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  10. ↑ "LH Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Management". Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  11. ↑ "MARTIN, Leslie Harold". ASAPWeb. 1995. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
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