Masson, David Orme (1858 - 1937)

Masson was Professor of Chemistry, University of Melbourne 1886 - 1923. Along with Spencer and later Lyle, Masson played a crucial role in modernising and raising the status and quality of science at the University of Melbourne. Upon his appointment to the Chair of Chemistry, one of his first tasks was to prepare plans for a new laboratory and enlargement of the lecture theatre for 130 students with £3,500.

David Masson is commemorated by the Masson Theatre and Masson Road, University of Melbourne, Masson Lectureship, Australian National Research Council 1931, Masson Memorial Scholarship, Royal Australian Chemical Institute 1939, a mountain range and an island in Antarctica. His portrait by W.B. McInnes is displayed in the foyer of the University of Melbourne's Chemistry department.

Events

18 January 1858	Born
1878? - 1884	Educated University of Edinburgh (MA 1878 BSc 1880, DSc 1884) and Göttingen.
1880	Lecturer in chemistry, University College Bristol
1882 - 1885	Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
1886 - 1923	Professor of Chemistry, University of Melbourne
1900	First President, Society of Chemical Industry of Victoria
1911 - 1913	President, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1916 - 1920	Inaugural Chairman of Advisory Council for Science and Industry
1917	Founder and first president of the Victorian branch, Australian Chemical Institute
1918	Awarded CBE
1922 - 1926	President, Australian National Research Council
1923	Awarded KBE
1923 - 1924	President, Australian Chemical Institute
10 August 1937	Died

Dean

• Office of the Dean of Science, Faculty of Science (1903 - )

  [1905 - 1914]

Professorial Chair

• Chair of Chemistry, Faculty of Science (1882 - 1959)

  [1886 - 1923]

Wife

• Masson, Mary (1862 - 1945)

  [1886 - 1923]

• 'Masson, David Orme - Ms 12', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/academy/basser/lists/ms012.txt.
• 'Masson, David Orme', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000625p.htm.
• 'Masson, David Orme (1858 - 1937), Biographical Entry', in Bright Sparcs, 2001 edn, 2001, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000625b.htm.

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 3 May 2000, http://barney.asap.unimelb.edu.au/tia/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P000625.
• Bolton, H.C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist, 1990, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm.