Martin, Leslie Harold (1900 - 1983)

Martin was appointed Lecturer (1927) and Associate Professor in Natural Philosophy, and then Professor of Physics (1945 - 1959) at the University of Melbourne. He was Commissioner of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission 1958 - 1968 and Professor of Physics, Military College of Duntroon 1967 - 1970.

Born 21 December 1900. Died 1 February 1983. CBE 1954, Kt cr 1957. Educated University of Melbourne (BSc 1921, MSc 1923) and Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (PhD 1927). 1851 Exhibition Scholar 1923-26, Rockefeller Fellow 1927, Senior Lecturer in Natural Philosophy, University of Melbourne 1927-37, Associate Professor 1937-45, Professor of Physics 1945-59, Chairman, Australian Universities Commission 1959-66, Dean of Military Studies and Professor of Physics, Royal Military College, Duntroon 1967-70. Defence Scientific Adviser and Chairman, Defence Research & Development Policy Committee 1948-68, Commissioner, Australian Atomic Energy Commission 1958-68. President, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics 1952-53. Syme Prize 1934 (shared), John Smyth Memorial Medal, University of Melbourne 1945, R.M. Johnston Memorial Medal, Royal Society of Tasmania 1946, Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science 1954, Fellow of the Royal Society 1957.

The Sir Leslie Martin Prize was first awarded in 1971 at the Royal Military College (RMC), Duntroon and has been awarded every year since then at the RMC until 1985, and from then at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) since 1986 to the present. The prize is awarded for 'distinguished performance by a First Year Officer Cadet in First Year Physics' from all streams, that is, all Physics, Engineering and Arts students who take Physics I.

Head of Department

• School of Physics, Faculty of Science (1945 - )

  [1945 - 1959]

Professorial Chair

• Chair of Physics, Chamber of Manufactures, Faculty of Science (1945 - 1995)

  [1945 - 1959]

• 'Martin, Leslie Harold - AAS Biographical Memoir', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 7, no. 1, 1987, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/aasmemoirs/martin.htm.
• 'Martin, Leslie Harold', 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/P000622p.htm.
• 'Martin, Leslie Harold (1900 - 1983), Biographical Entry', in Bright Sparcs, 2001 edn, 2001, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000622b.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=P000622.