1906: Born 31 August in Carlton, Melbourne.

1912-1920: Primary education at Lee Street State School, Carlton. Dux of the school. Winner of a Junior Government Scholarship and an entrance scholarship to University High School.

1921-1924: Secondary education at University High School. Athletics champion and a member of the football and cricket teams.

1925: Entered the University of Melbourne with a Senior Government Scholarship and the School Exhibition.

1925-1927: Studied for Bachelor of Science Degree (conferred 1928). First Class Honours and Exhibition in Geology Parts I, II and III, and in Metallurgy I and II. Australian Mining Companies Bursary in Metallurgy.

1927-1928: Howitt Research Scholar in Geology. Studied for Master of Science Degree (conferred 1929 with First Class Honours).

1929: Appointed full-time Demonstrator in Geology. Professor Kernot Research Scholarship in Geology.

1929: Gained 1851 (Overseas) Exhibition Scholarship to London University.

1929: Undertook research work for PhD at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, first under the direction of Professor W.W. Watts and later under Professor P.G.H. Boswell. Research was carried out on the Upper Devonian fishes of Victoria and New South Wales, and on the Devonian igneous rocks of the Marysville district, Victoria.

1930: Fellow of Geological Society of London.

1931: Graduated PhD (London). Diploma of the Imperial College.

1932: Returned to Australia to take up appointment as Lecturer in Geology at the University of Melbourne.

1932: Married Claire Doris Fox on 26 July in Melbourne.

1938: DSc, University of Melbourne. Appointed Acting Senior Lecturer.

1939: Awarded the David Syme Prize for Scientific Research.

1940: Appointed Senior Lecturer in Geology, University of Melbourne.

1940: Outlines of Structural Geology, Methuen, London & Wiley, New York, 1940 (Second Edition 1943; Third Edition 1953, reprinted 1962, Russian translation 1954).

1940: The Physiography of Victoria: an Introduction to Geomorphology, Whitcombe & Tombs, Melbourne/Sydney 1940 (Second Edition 1946; Third Edition 1951; Fourth Edition 1959, reprinted 1960, 1964, 1967; Fifth Edition 1975).

1943: Released by the University to serve in the Australian Army with the rank of Captain, attached to the North Australia Observer Unit by the Directorate of Army Research. Travelled through Northern Australia collecting information for use in the construction of a relief model of Northern Australia (expanded to include the whole of Australia).

1942: Wollaston Fund Award of the Geological Society of London, for researches in Geology. Appointed Associate Professor of Geology, University of Melbourne.

1944: Appointed Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Melbourne.

1945-1961: Member of Council and Development Committee, Royal Society of Victoria.

1946: Australian representative at the Royal Society Empire Scientific Conference, UK.

1946-1978: Member of the Board of Trustees, National Museum of Victoria (Deputy Chairman in 1960, Chairman from 1961).

1947: President of Section P (Geography) of ANZAAS.

1947-1948: Dean of Science, University of Melbourne.

1947-1956: Chairman of Editorial Committee, Royal Society of Victoria.

1951: Awarded Bigsby Medal of the Geological Society of London.

1952: Member of the Unesco-Turkey Symposium on Arid Zone Hydrology at Ankara. Member of the Desert Research Symposium held in Israel.

1952-1955: Chairman of the Interim Council and then Foundation President of the Geological Society of Australia.

1953-1954: Appointed Unesco expert in arid zonal research, adviser to Egyptian Government on the establishment and programme of the Fuad I Desert Research Institute at Heliopolis.

1954: Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

1954: Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

1955-1956: President, Royal Society of Victoria. Chairman of the Society's Antarctic Symposium in the presence of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.

1957-: Member of the Unesco International Advisory Committee on Arid Zone Research (Chairman at several meetings).

1958: Convenor of the Tectonic Map Committee for Australia and Oceania, International Geological Congress.

1958-: Member of the Advisory Committee of ANZAAS.

1959-1975: Member of the National Committee on Hydrology, Australian Academy of Science (Chairman 1959-1968).

1959: President-elect of Section C (Geology) of ANZAAS.

1959-1962: Chairman of the Professorial Board and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne.

1959-1963: Representative of the Australian Academy of Science on the Great Barrier Reef Committee.

1959-1965: Member of National Committee for Geodesy and Geophysics, Australian Academy of Science.

1960: Delegate of the University of Melbourne to the Royal Society of London's Tercentenary Celebrations.

1960: Honorary DSc, University of Durham.

1960: Delivered the William Smith Lecture to the Geological Society of London.

1961-1963: Member of Council, Australian Academy of Science.

1962-1963: Member of Sectional Committee for Geological Sciences of the Standing Committee for International Relations, Australian Academy of Science.

1962-1971: Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne.

1962-1971: Representative of the Australian Academy of Science on the Natural Sciences Committee of the Australian National Advisory Committee of Unesco.

1962-1974: Member of National Committee for Geological Sciences, Australian Academy of Science.

1963: Vice-President, Australian Academy of Science.

1963: Elements of Structural Geology, Methuen, London, 1963 (Second Edition 1972, reprinted 1974, 1979, 1983; Indian edition 1965; Russian edition 1964; Spanish edition 1977).

1964-1971: Research Professor of Geology, University of Melbourne.

1963-1967: Chairman of Interim Committee set up in October, 1963, which in 1965 transformed into the Australia-Unesco Committee for the International Hydrological Decade 1964-1974.

1966: Fellowship of Imperial College, London.

1966: Member of the Commission on the Teaching of Geology, International Union of Geological Sciences (Chairman 1977- 1978).

1966: Arid Lands: a Geographical Appraisal, (Editor) Methuen, London & Unesco, Paris, 1966.

1967: Elected an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

1967: Member of the Australian Research Grants Committee.

1967-1975: Member of Science and Industry Forum, Australian Academy of Science.

1968: Received Lomonosov Medal, University of Moscow.

1970-: Member of the National Committee for Quaternary Research, Australian Academy of Science (Chairman 1970-1978).

1970-1971: Member of National Committee for Geodesy and Geophysics, Australian Academy of Science.

1971: Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.).

1972-: Professor Emeritus, University of Melbourne.

1979: Awarded W.R. Browne Medal, Geological Society of Australia.

1985: Elected Member of the Royal Society of Sciences of Uppsala.

1986: Died 2 May in Melbourne.

1989: Publication of memorial volume, Pathways in Geology: Essays in Honour of Edwin Sherbon Hills, Ed. R.W. Le Maitre, Melbourne, 1989.