Ian Clunies Ross

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Sir William Ian Clunies Ross (22 February 189920 June 1959) was an Australian veterinary scientist. He has been described as the "architect" of Australia's scientific boom, for his stewardship of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

), the Australian scientific organisation.

, in the Agriculture Faculty, and transferred to

veterinary science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...

at the beginning of 1918, graduating with second class honours in 1920. His father died in 1914, and his brothers Egerton and Rob died in WWI, killed in action and from pneumonic influenza respectively.

Veterinary career

In 1921, Clunies Ross was given a temporary lectureship in veterinary anatomy; the following year he was made a Fellow of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, allowing him to a travel overseas. He spent a year working on animal

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

s at the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and the School of Tropical Medicine in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He also spent time in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, mainly in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, where he looked at methods of field control of parasitic diseases. When he returned to Sydney he set up a veterinary practice, lectured at the university and continued his own research on the hydatid parasite ('' Echinococcus granulosus''), the liver fluke (''

Fasciola hepatica ''Fasciola hepatica'', also known as the common liver fluke or sheep liver fluke, is a parasitism, parasitic trematode (fluke (flatworm), fluke or flatworm, a type of helminth) of the class (biology), class Trematoda, phylum Platyhelminthes. It ...

''), and the dog-tick ('' Ixodes holocyclus''). He developed an

immunization Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the antigen, immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ' ...

for dogs to protect against the dog-tick.

CSIR

In 1926 Clunies Ross was appointed parasitologist to the newly established Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and was funded to continue research at the Sydney University Veterinary School. On 6 October 1927, he married English honours graduate Janet Carter at the Catholic Apostolic Church, Redfern. They had three sons: Anthony, Adrian and David. By mid-1931, three other researchers were working with him, and in November 1931 the team moved into CSIR's new McMaster Animal Health Laboratory. Clunies Ross was appointed as the officer-in-charge of the laboratory. In 1928, his thesis on the hydatid parasite was accepted by the University of Sydney for the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Science. Work at the McMaster Laboratory on the control of

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

liver-fluke, made a significant improvement to animal health and the returns from agriculture in the 1930s.

Science administration

Following his time at the McMaster Laboratory, Clunies Ross spent times in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and he was the Australian representative at the International Wool Secretariat in

from 1937 to 1940. He enjoyed this administrative role. He also served as a member of Australia's delegation to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

Assembly in 1938. He and his family returned to Australia when

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, he returned to the Veterinary school at the University of Sydney. He was president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs from 1941 to 1945. He was a notable member of the Australian Veterinary Association. He was a vocal commentator on international affairs throughout the remainder of his career.

CSIRO

In 1943, Clunies Ross was appointed Director of Scientific Personnel in the Commonwealth Directorate of Manpower and also Adviser on the Pastoral Industry to the Department of War Organization of Industry. He held these positions until 1945 while continuing work connected with his university position. At the end of the war he left the university to assist the CSIR in planning

and

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

-textile research. In 1946 he was appointed a full-time member of the CSIR Executive Committee, which was situated in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He served as the executive officer of the CSIR until 1949 when it was renamed the CSIRO. He was chairman of the CSIRO until his death in 1959. During this time he oversaw the release of myxomatosis for

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

control in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In his retirement he was president of the Melbourne Wallaby Club 1954 – 1955. While in his role at the CSIRO Clunies Ross came into conflict with pioneering radio astronomer Ruby Payne-Scott over the role of women in the organization, and her role in particular. The two met in person to discuss the disparity in pay and working conditions between male and female employees of CSIRO, but this did not result in change to the status quo. When Payne-Scott's marriage and pregnancy were revealed, the two had a hostile exchange of letters, and CSIRO consequently deprived her of permanent employee status and pension funds.

Later years and legacy

In 1954, Clunies Ross was knighted and appointed

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG), and made a Foundation Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

(FAA). He died of atherosclerotic heart disease on 20 June 1959 in Melbourne, and is buried in Box Hill cemetery. The career of Ian Clunies Ross is widely commemorated in Australia. The Australian $50 bank note issued in 1973 celebrated Ian Clunies Ross on one side, and

Howard Florey Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey, (; 24 September 1898 – 21 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his ro ...

on the other. The National Science Centre in

Parkville, Victoria Parkville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Merri-bek, M ...

was renamed as Clunies Ross House in 1968, and decorated with a mural by Robert Ingpen celebrating Clunies Ross' career.

Honours

*Companion of the

(CMG) (1 January 1954) as Chairman of the CSIRO *

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

(10 June 1954) as Chairman of the CSIRO

Namesakes

*Clunies Ross National Science and Technology Award *Clunies Ross Street in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia *Clunies Ross Street in Prospect, New South Wales, Australia *Clunies Ross Court in Brisbane Technology Park, Eight Mile Plains, Queensland, Australia *Clunies Ross Award or the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Clunies Ross Award from 1959 *Clunies Ross House at Newington CollegeThe history of Newington’s Houses
Retrieved 7 April August 2023. *Ian Clunies Ross lecture theatre in the J.D.Stewart Building, School of Veterinary Science,

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

References

Bibliography

*O'Dea, C. 1997. ''Ian Clunies Ross – a biography''. Hyland House, South Melbourne *Australian Academy of Science Biography – Ian Clunies Ros

External links

Clunies Ross Foundation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clunies Ross, Ian 1899 births 1959 deaths Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Knights Bachelor Australian parasitologists Burials at Box Hill Cemetery Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science People educated at Newington College