Dwyer, Francis Patrick John (1910 - 1962)

Summary

Francis Dwyer was Professor and Head of the Biological and Inorganic Chemistry Unit, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University from 1960. Earlier he had been a lecturer at Sydney Technical College 1934-1946 and University of Sydney 1946-1954. Fellow, Australian Academy of Science 1961. Dwyer was widely recognised as a leading authority in inorganic chemistry, and laid the foundation of biological inorganic chemistry. In his research he focused on metal coordination compounds, the optical activity of metal complexes, stereochemistry of sexadentate complexes and electron-transfer reactions. He pioneered the use of ruthenium polypyridyl complexes as highly active compounds.

Details

Chronology

1930

Education - BSc, University of Sydney

1933

Education - MSc, University of Sydney

1934 - 1946

Career position - Lecturer, Sydney Technical College

1940

Award - Rennie Memorial Medal, Australian Chemical Institute

1942 - 1945

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of New South Wales

1943

Award - H. G. Smith Memorial Medal, Australian Chemical Institute

1946

Education - DSc, University of Sydney

1946 - 1954

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, University of Sydney

1948 - 1949

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of New South Wales

1953

Award - David Syme Research Prize (jointly), University of Melbourne

1953 - 1954

Career position - Visiting Professor, Northwestern University, Illinois, U.S.A.

1954

Award - George Fisher-Baker Lecturer, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.

1956 - 1962

Career position - Chair of Inorganic Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A.

1959

Career position - Visiting Reader in charge of Biological Inorganic Chemistry Unit, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University

1959

Award - Liversidge Lecturer, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1960 - 1962

Career position - Professor and Head of the Biological and Inorganic Chemistry Unit, John Curtin School of Medical Research

1961

Career position - President, Chemistry Section, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1961 - 1962

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Francis Patrick John Dwyer - Records, 1962 - 1964, MS 041; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Book Sections

• Livingstone, Stanley E., 'Dwyer, Francis Patrick John (1910-1962), Professor of Chemistry' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, John Ritchie, ed., vol. 14 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1996), pp. 63-64. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140071b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Baker, Anthony T., 'The contribution of Dwyer and Lions to the design of sexadentate ligands', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 132 (1999), 65-82. Details
• Baker, N. J.; Xiao, L. H.; Craig, D. C.; and Baker, A. T., 'Metal complexes of linear sexadentate ligands: Dwyer and Lions revisited', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 132 (1999), 11-22. Details
• Kilah, Nathan L.; and Meggers, Eric, 'Sixty years young: the diverse biological activities of metal polypyridyl complexes pioneered by Francis P. Dwyer', Australian Journal of Chemistry, 65 (9) (2012), 1325-32. Details
• McKenzie, H. A., 'Obituary: Francis Patrick John Dwyer', Australian Journal of Science, 25 (11) (1962), 215-216. Details
• Sutherland, K.. L., 'Francis Partick John Dwyer', Yearbook of the Australian Academy of Science (1063), 30-41. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5482144. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/14523648. Details
• 'Dwyer, Francis Patrick John (1910-1962)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1468512. Details

See also

• Aroney, M. J.; Buckingham, A. D., 'Raymond James Wood Le Fèvre 1905-1986', Historical Records of Australian Science, 7 (3) (1988), 273-297. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9880730273. Details
• Birch, Arthur J., 'Francis Lions, a Memoir and Contemporary Historical Assessment: Sydney University Chemistry, 1930s to 1960s', Historical Records of Australian Science, 20 (2) (2009), 163-190 , https://doi.org/10.1071/HR09009. Details
• Danks, D.; Duffield, A.; Sargeson, A., 'Berthold Halpern 1923-1980', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (4) (1983), 72-81. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9830540072. Details