P000854 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 1993-10-20 human Gavan McCarthy [P004098]; Ken McInnes updated 2026-04-27 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000854b.htm person Wadham Samuel MacMahon Kt AACR2 31 October 1891 18 September 1972 Place of Birth Ealing, London, England Place of Death Parkville, Victoria, Australia Agricultural scientist University Administrator Sir Samuel Wadham was Professor of Agriculture, University of Melbourne, 1926-1956. President of the Royal Society of Victoria 1937-1938. He wrote and broadcast on aspects of farming and was a well-known and popular figure in farming communities. Wadham had a long record of service for Victorian and Commonwealth Government bodies, having a significant influence on Australian rural and agricultural policies. Among his publications was the pioneering Land utilization in Australia (1939, 4th edition 1964) with G. L. Wood.

Interviewed at Cambridge, for Chair of Agriculture, University of Melbourne [Interviewed by George Swinburne and John Henry MacFarland]

1913 1913 Education - Diploma of Agriculture (Agr.Dip), Christ's College, Cambridge 1913 1913 Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), Christ's College, Cambridge 1914 1918 Military service - First World War. Captain, British Army [Signals Officer] 1917 1917 Education - Master of Arts (MA), Christ's College, Cambridge 1919? 1919? Career position - Researcher, British Ministry of Agriculture [Mycology; ecology of the Fens; yield variation in cereals] 1919 1925 Career position - Senior demonstrator, Botany Department, Cambridge 1926 1926 Life event - Settled in Victoria 1926 1931 Career position - Professor of Agriculture, University of Melbourne 1926 1949 Career position - Member of Council, Council for Scientific and Insustrial Research 1929 1929 Career event - Member, Federal Dairy Investigation Committee 1930 1930 Career position - President, Section K (Agriculture and Forestry), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1932 1932 Education - Master of Arts (MA), ad eundem, University of Melbourne 1932 1957 Career position - Professor of Agriculture, University of Melbourne [Secured tenure after resigning] 1934 1934 Career position - Member, Royal Commission on the Wheat Industry 1935 1935 Career event - Elected to Council, University of Melbourne 1936 1937 Career position - Member, Nutrition Advisory Council, Commonwealth Government 1937 Career event - Member, Australian National Research Council 1937 Career event - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) 1937 1938 Career position - President, Royal Society of Victoria 1939 1939 Publication - Book: Land Utilization in Australia, with Gordon Leslie Wood 1943 1946 Career position - Member, Rural Reconstruction Commission 1947 1947 Award - Farrer Memorial Medal, Farrer Memorial Trust 1948 1948 Award - Inaugural Australian Medal of Agricultural Science, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science - in recognition of his work on the Rural Reconstruction Commission 1949 1956 Career position - Member of Council, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) 1949 1960 Career position - Member, Commonwealth Migration Planning Council 1956 1956 Life event - Retired 1956 1956 Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Melbourne 1956 1956 Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Professor of Agriculture at Melbourne University 1956 1972 Career position - Member, Maud Gibson Trust Committee, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne 1958 1972 Award - Life Member, Australian Institute of Agricultural Sciences 1961 1961 Career position - President, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) 1961 1972 Award - Honorary Life Member, Institute of Australian Geographers 1963 1965 Career position - Member, Commonwealth Committee for Tertiary Education 1965 1972 Career position - Botanic Gardens Research Committee, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Royal Society of Victoria (1859 - )

President 1937 - 1938

 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Commonwealth of Australia (1949 - )

Member of the Council 1949 - 1956

 Farrer Memorial Medal (1936 - )

Awarded the Medal 1947

 Australian Institute of Agricultural Science (1935 - 1996)

Life Member 1958 - 1972

 The University of Melbourne (1853 - )

Professor of Agriculture 1926 - 1957; Vice Chairman, Academic Board 1941 - 1943

 Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) (1930 - )

President 1961; Fellow 1937 - 1972

 Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (1888 - 1930)

President, Section K (Agriculture and Forestry) 1930

 Advisory Council - CSIRO, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (1950 - 1986)

Member CSIR Council 1926-1949; Member 1950-1956

 Australian Medal of Agricultural Science, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (1948 - )

Awarded the Medal 1948 by the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science

 Australian National Research Council (ANRC) (1919 - 1955)

Member 1937 -

 Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, State of Victoria (1958 - )

Member, Maud Gibson Trust Committee 1956 - 1972; Member, Botanic Gardens Research Committee 1965 - 1972

 Institute of Australian Geographers (1959 - )

Honorary Life Member 1961 - 1972

 CSIR Council, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (1926 - 1949)

Member 1926 - 1949

 Wallaby Club (1894 - )

President 1940 - 1941

Wikidata

 Wadham, Samuel (1891-)

Trove

 'Wadham, Samuel MacMahon', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Wadham, Samuel MacMahon Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book: Australia: a study of warm environments and their effect on British settlement Taylor, Griffith Australia: a study of warm environments and their effect on British settlement London Methuen & Co. 1940 Resource Section: Samuel M Wadham Collection University of Melbourne Archives Samuel M Wadham Collection 1996 Resource: Honorary degree holders University of Melbourne Honorary degree holders University of Melbourne 2023 Resource: Honorary degree holders University of Melbourne Honorary degree holders University of Melbourne 2023 Book: Wadham: Scientist for Land and People Humphreys, L.R. Wadham: Scientist for Land and People Melbourne Melbourne University Press 2000 Edited Book: Sir Samuel Wadham Leeper, G. W. Sir Samuel Wadham Melbourne 1956 Book Section: Wadham, Sir Samuel McMahon (1891-1972), professor of agriculture Humphreys, L. R. Wadham, Sir Samuel McMahon (1891-1972), professor of agriculture Melbourne Melbourne University Press 2002 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 16: 1940 - 1980 Pik-Z John Ritchie and Diane Langmore 456-459 Journal Article: 150 Years, 150 Stories: Samuel McMahon Wadham Flesch, Juliet and McPhee, Peter 150 Years, 150 Stories: Samuel McMahon Wadham 2003 Uni News 12 14 4 Book: Selected addresses / with a biographical study by G. Blainey Wadham, Sir Samuel Selected addresses / with a biographical study by G. Blainey Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1956 Book: Science Wadham, Sir Samuel MacMahon Science Melbourne; Ithaca Oxford University Press; Cornell University Press 1963 The Pattern of Australian Culture A. L. McLeod Journal Article: The Extension to the Agricultural School. [Historical Review of the University of Melbourne School.] Wadham, Sir Samuel The Extension to the Agricultural School. [Historical Review of the University of Melbourne School.] 1955 Melbourne University Gazette 11 82-83 Book: Australian Farming 1788-1965 Wadham, S. M. Australian Farming 1788-1965 Melbourne F. W. Cheshire 1967 Book: Land utilization in Australia Wadham, S. M. and Wood, G. L. Land utilization in Australia Melbourne Melbourne University Press in association with Oxford University Press 1939 Book: 150 years, 150 stories: brief biographies of one hundred and fifty remarkable people associated with the University of Melbourne Flesch, Juliet and McPhee, Peter 150 years, 150 stories: brief biographies of one hundred and fifty remarkable people associated with the University of Melbourne Melbourne Department of History, University of Melbourne 2003 Journal Article: Walter Boas 1904-1982 Clarebrough, L. M.; Head, A. K. Walter Boas 1904-1982 1987 Historical Records of Australian Science 6 4 507-517 Journal Article: James Arthur Prescott 1890-1987 Stephens, C.G.; and Quirk, J.P. James Arthur Prescott 1890-1987 1988 Historical Records of Australian Science 7 3 299-313 Journal Article: John Stewart Turner 1908-1991 Ashton, D. H.; Ducker, S. C. John Stewart Turner 1908-1991 1993 Historical Records of Australian Science 9 3 278-290 Resource: Farrer Memorial Trust Medal recipients and orations New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Farrer Memorial Trust Medal recipients and orations Sydney New South Wales Department of Primary Industries 2023 Journal Article: Herbert George Andrewartha 1907-1992 Birch, L.C.; Browning, T. O. Herbert George Andrewartha 1907-1992 1993 Historical Records of Australian Science 9 3 258-268 Samuel MacMahon Wadham - Records The University of Melbourne Archives Samuel MacMahon Wadham - Records 1925 - 1972 A very large collection including: correspondence 1925-70; papers relating to various organisations 1928-68; broadcast talks 1928-68; material relating to the University of Melbourne, education and research 1926-72; conferences and surveys 1933-68; material relating to public affairs 1931-71 [21 m]. 21 m Wadham, Samuel MacMahon Portrait Wadham, Samuel MacMahon Portrait Royal Society of Victoria Presidential Portrait

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