Biographical entry Alder, Keith Frederick (1921 - )

Summary

Keith Alder was Director of the Lucas Heights Research Establishment, Australian Atomic Energy Commission, from 1962-1970. He also lectured in metallurgy in New South Wales and Victoria and worked in the United Kingdom.

Details

After completing his science masters, Keith Alder worked for a year as a metallurgist for the Tungsten Plant Ammunition Factory in Footscray. He then moved to New South Wales for a two year lectureship in metallurgy at Newcastle Technical College. From 1946-1948 Alder was a senior scientific officer for the Ministry of Supply Atomic Weapons in Woolwich, London. He returned to Australia and was appointed senior lecturer in physical metallurgy at the University of Melbourne from 1952-1953. The Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, England employed Alder from 1954-1957. In 1955 Alder was appointed head of the Metallurgy Section at the Lucas Heights Research Establishment run by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC). He remained with the AAEC at Lucas Heights for over twenty years taking on many roles including Director, Head of the Development Group, Head of the Nuclear Science and Technology Branch and was General Manager from 1976-1982. Keith Fredrick Alder was appointed a Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) in 1977 in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field. He was also made a Fellow of the Institute of Metallurgists (FIM) and the Institution of Radio and Electronics Engineers Australia (FIREE).

Events

c. 1944

Education - Master of Science (MSc) completed at the University of Melbourne

1945 - 1946

Career position - Metallurgist for the Tungsten Plant Ammunition Factory in Footscray, Victoria

1946 - 1948

Career position - Lecturer in Metallurgy at the Newcastle Technical College, New South Wales

16 January 1947

Life event - Married Pauline Mary Robertson

1949 - 1950

Career position - Senior Scientific Officer at the Ministry of Supply Atomic Weapons in Woolwich, UK

1952 - 1953

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Physical Metallurgy at the University of Melbourne

1954 - 1957

Career position - Metallurgist at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, UK

1955 - 1962

Career position - Head of the Metallurgy Section at the Lucas Heights Research Establishment of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC)

1962 - 1970

Career position - Director of the Lucas Heights Research Establishment at the AAEC

1968 -

Career position - Member of the AAEC

1971 - 1972

Career position - Head of the Development Group at the Lucas Heights Research Establishment at the AAEC

1973 - 1975

Career position - Head of the Nuclear Science and Technology Branch at the Lucas Heights Research Establishment at the AAEC

1976 - 1982

Career position - General Manager of the Lucas Heights Research Establishment of the AAEC

1977 -

Career position - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1983

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM)

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Alder, Keith F., Australia's Uranium Opportunities: How Her Scientists and Engineers Tried to bring her into the Nuclear Age but were Stymied by Politics, Pauline M. Alder, Warrawee, NSW, 1996, 87 pp. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Alder, Keith Frederick', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475738. Details

See also

• Angyal, S. J., 'Sir Philip Baxter 1905-1989', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 8, no. 3, 1991, pp. 183-197. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9910830183.htm. Details