Person

Walkom, Arthur Bache (1889 - 1976)

Born
8 February 1889
Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Died
2 July 1976
Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Museum curator and Palaeobotanist

Summary

Arthur Walkom was a distinguished palaeobotanist whose research focused on the Mesozoic and upper Palaeozoic fossil floras of eastern Australia. He was Director of the Australian Museum from 1940 to 1954. Walkom was active in scientific societies including being President of the Royal Societies of Queensland and New South Wales. He resigned from Council of Linnean Society of New South Wales in 1972 after 53 years continuous service, including terms as President, Treasurer, Secretary and editor of the Society's Proceedings. Walkomiella, a genus of extinct conifer-like gymnosperms, was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1910
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney
1912
Career position - Linnean Macleay Fellow (Geology), Linnean Society of New South Wales
1913 - 1919
Career position - Assistant Lecturer in Geology, University of Queensland
1914 - 1918
Career position - Editor, Royal Society of Queensland's Proceedings
1915 - 1917
Career position - Honorary Palaeobotanist, Queensland Museum
1916 - 1918
Career position - Honorary Secretary, Royal Society of Queensland
1918
Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Sydney
1918 - 1919
Career position - President of the Royal Society of Queensland
1919 - 1940
Career position - Secretary, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1919 - 1966
Career position - Editor, Linnean Society of New South Wales' Proceedings
1922 - 1929
Career position - Editor, Australian Science Abstracts, Australian National Research Council
1926 - 1930
Career position - Honorary Secterary, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1929
Career position - Attended a meeting of the International Geological Congress in South Africa
1930 - 1947
Career position - General Secretary, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)
1933
Career position - Attended a meeting of the International Geological Congress in Washington, USA
1937 - 1940
Career position - Secretary, Australian National Research Council
1939 - 1940
Career position - Trustee of the Australian Museum
1940 - 1954
Career position - Director of the Australian Museum
1941 - 1942
Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1942 - 1970
Career position - Treasurer, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1943
Career position - President, Royal Society of New South Wales
1947 - 1954
Career position - Served on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Australian national advisory committee
1947 - 1954
Career position - Served on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Australian committee for museums
1948
Career position - Attended the third General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Beirut, Lebanon
1948
Award - Clarke Medal received from the Royal Society of New South Wales
1949
Career position - Delegate at science congresses in New Zealand
1949 - 1951
Career position - President, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science
1951
Career position - Delegate at science congresses in Bangalore, India
1952 - 1966
Career position - Honorary Secretary, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1953
Award - Royal Society of New South Wales Medal
1955 - 1976
Career position - Life member of ANZAAS
1955 - 1976
Career position - Life member, Royal Society of New South Wales
1970
Award - ANZAAS Medal (Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science)

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Books

  • Walkom, A. B., Mesozoic floras of Queensland, parts I-IV: geological notes, maps and sections by B. Dunstan (Brisbane: Government Printer, 1915-9), 303 pp. Details
  • Walkom, A. B., The Linnean Society of New South Wales (founded 1874) for "the cultivation and study of the science of natural history in all its branches": historical notes of its first fifty years (jubilee publication) (Sydney: Australasian Medical Publishing Company, 1925), 46 pp. Details
  • Walkom, A. B., Guide to the Australian Museum and its contents (Sydney: Trustees of the Australian Museum, 1941), 127 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Brazier, Jan, 'Walkom, Arthur Bache (1889-1976), Palaeobotanist and Museum Director' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, John Ritchie and Diane Langmore, eds, vol. 16 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002), pp. 469-470. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160561b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

  • Vallance, T. G., 'Arthur Bache Walkom 1889-1976 (Memorial Series No.25)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 102 (3) (1978), 148-55. Details
  • W. R. B. [i.e. Browne, W. R.] and A. B. W. [i.e. Walkom, A. B.], 'Ernest Clayton Andrews 1870 - 1948 (Memorial series, no. 13.)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 77 (1952), 98-103. Details
  • Walkom, A. B., 'Mr R. H. Cambage, C.B.E.', Nature, 123 (3095) (1929), 286-7. Details
  • Walkom, A. B., 'Memorial to Ernest Clayton Andrews', Proceedings Volume of the Geological Society of America Annual Report for 1948 (1949), 117-126. Details

Resources

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

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