Biographical entry Christiansen, Wilbur Norman (Chris) (1913 - 2007)

Summary

Wilbur Norman Christiansen (Chris) was Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney 1960-1978, and published in the fields of radioastronomy and radiotelescope design.

Details

Born Melbourne, 9 August 1913. Educated University of Melbourne (BSc 1934, MSc 1935, DSc 1953). Physicist, Commonwealth X-ray and Radium Laboratory 1935-37; research engineer, Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd 1937-48; senior research officer to senior principal research officer, Division of Radiophysics, CSIRO 1948-60; professor and head, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney 1960-78; visiting Fellow, Mt Stromlo Observatory 1979-83. Syme Prize 1959; Fellow, Australian Academy of Science 1959; P.N. Russell Medal, Institution of Engineers Australia 1970. President, Astronomical Society of Australia 1975-79; president, International Union of Radio Science 1978-81.

Related entries

Archival resources

Private hands (Christiansen, W.N.)

• Wilbur Norman Christiansen - Records, 1950 - 1978; Private hands (Christiansen, W.N.). Details

University of Sydney, Archives

• Wilbur Norman Christiansen - Records, 1947 - 1981, P 118; University of Sydney, Archives. Details

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Christiansen, W. N.; Mills, B.Y., 'Biographical Memoirs [Joseph Lade Pawsey, including publications]', Australian Physicist, vol. 1, no. 9, 1964, pp. 137-141. Details
• Christiansen, W.N., 'History and Propaganda in Astronomy', Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia, vol. 8, no. 1, 1989, pp. 96-101. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Macey, R., 'Always an eye on the stars - Chris Christiansen 1913-2007', The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 May 2007. Also available at http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/always-an-eye-on-the-stars/2007/05/23/1179601487127.html. Details

Online Resources

• 'Christiansen, Wilbur Norman', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000309p.htm. Details
• Crompton, Bob, Interview with Professor Chris Christiansen, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 5 June 1997, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/c/cc.html. Details
• 'Christiansen, W N', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-492567. Details
• Ward, C., 'Wilbur Norman (Chris) Christiansen [1913-2007]', in CSIROpedia, 2011, http://csiropedia.csiro.au/display/CSIROpedia/Christiansen%2C+Wilbur+Norman. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_c.html. Details