| 27 March 1930 | Born Sydney |
| 1940 - 1946 | Educated Canterbury Boys' High School |
| 1948 - 1951 | NSW Public Service scholarship |
| 1951 | University of Sydney, BSc |
| 1951 - 1955 | Assistant Curator, Australian Museum, Department of Mineralogy and Petrology |
| 1953 | University of Sydney, MSc |
| 1953 | ANZAAS Research Grant |
| 1953 - 1955 | Research scholarship, California Institute of Technology |
| 1953 - 1955 | Postgraduate student and Teaching Associate, Division of Geological Sciences, California Institute of Technology |
| 1956 | California Institute of Technology, PhD |
| 1956 - 1960 | Research Fellow |
| 1960 - 1964 | Fellow |
| 1961 | R.K. Murphy Lecturer, School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales. |
| 1963 | Fulbright Travel Award |
| 1963 - 1964 | Visiting Professor, Department of Geology, University of Rochester, USA |
| 1964 | Guest Investigator, The Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institute of Washington |
| 1964 - 1969 | Senior Fellow, Australian National University, Geophysics/Geochemistry Department. |
| 1969 - 1987 | Professor of Geology and Head, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne |
| 1970 | Crosbie Morrison Lecturer, National Museum, Melbourne. |
| 1971 | University of Melbourne, MSc |
| 1971 | Member, Wallaby Club |
| 1972 | Visiting Professor, Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany |
| 1972 | Fulbright Travel Award |
| 1972 - 1973 | Senior Research Associate, NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, Maryland, USA |
| 1977 - 1978 | President, Royal Society of Victoria |
| 1978 | Member, ANARE, Commonwealth Bay and Casey Base in Australian Antarctic Territory and Macquarie Island |
| 1978 - 1980 | President, Geological Society of Australia |
| 1979 | Sir Maurice Mawby Lecturer, Mineralogical Society of Australia. |
| 1979 - 1985 | Member, Australian National Commission for UNESCO |
| 1980 | Sciences Club Orator, Sciences Club of Victoria. |
| 1981 | Chevalier des Palmes Academiques |
| 1982 | Fellow, Australian Academy of Science |
| 1984 | Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne |
| 1984 - 1985 | Member, Australian Ionising Radiation Advisory Council |
| 1985 - 1986 | President, Australian Geoscience Council |
| 1985 - 1986 | Member, Marine Research Allocations Advisory Committee |
| 1985 - 1987 | Chair, Board, Children’s Museum (Museum of Victoria) |
| 1985 - 1987 | President, UNESCO International Geological Correlation Programme |
| 1985 - 1987 | Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Melbourne |
| 1985 - 1989 | Chairman, Antarctic Science Advisory Committee |
| 1987 | Professor Emeritus, University of Melbourne |
| 1987 | Member, ANARE, Mawson and Davis Bases, Scullin Monolith, Heard Island |
| 1987 - 1995 | Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Geology, Flinders University of South Australia |
| 1988 | Essington Lewis Lecturer, The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Adelaide Branch) |
| 1989 - 1993 | South Australian Opera Board |
| 1990 - 1996 | Vice-President, International Union of Geological Sciences |
| 1992 - 1994 | Presiding Officer, Natural Resources Council of South Australia |
| 1992 - 1994 | Presiding Officer, Natural Resources Council of South Australia |
| 1992 - 2001 | Vice-Patron, The Investigator Science and Technology Centre (Adelaide) |
| 1993 | Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering |
| 1993 | Order of Australia (AO) |
| 1993 | AO |
| 1994 - 1999 | President, Murray-Darling Basin Commission |
| 1994 - 1999 | President, Murray-Darling Basin Commission |
| 1995 | Emeritus Professor, Flinders University of South Australia |
| 1995 | DSc honoris causa, Flinders University of South Australia |
| 1998 | Chairman, Environment Conservation Council |
| 1998 | Chairman, Australian National Seismic Imaging Resource |
| 1998 - 1999 | Member, Natural Heritage Trust Advisory Committee |
| 1999 | Professorial Fellow, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne |
| 1999 | DSc, honoris causa, University of Melbourne |
| 1999 | Chairman, Gippsland Research Coordination Group |
