Sir Leonard George Holden Huxley (29 May 1902 – 4 September 1988) was an Australian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. Huxley was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the eldest son of George Hamborough and Lilian Huxley. He was a second-cousin once removed of

Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

. His family migrated from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to Australia in 1905 when he was three, and settled in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, where Huxley showed great academic and sporting promise while attending

The Hutchins School , motto_translation = Character lives after death , city = Hobart , state = Tasmania , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, day & boarding , de ...

. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to New College, Oxford while in his second year at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...

and obtained a D.Phil. from Oxford in 1928. On 5 October 1929 he married Ella Mary Child 'Molly' Copeland who was reading history at

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, ...

. first published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17, (MUP), 2007. Huxley was a physicist at the Australian Radio Research Board, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 1929 to 1931; Lecturer in Physics, University College, Leicester 1932 to 1940; Principal Scientific Officer, Ministry of Aircraft Production, UK 1940 to 1946;

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in Electromagnetism,

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

1946 to 1949; Professor of Physics,

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

1949 to 1960; and Vice-Chancellor,

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

1960 to 1967.HUXLEY, Leonard George Holden
Physics in Australia to 1945. Huxley was president of the Australian Branch of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physic ...

(UK) 1954 to 1955; and president of the Australian Institute of Physics 1962 to 1965. He was elected a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1953, originally published in ''Historical Records of the Australian Academy of Science'', vol. 8, no. 4, Canberra, Australia, 1991, p 249. and knighted in 1964. Huxley died in

at the age of 86.

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* * * * 1902 births 1988 deaths Australian physicists Academics of the University of Leicester Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Australian Rhodes Scholars Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Alumni of New College, Oxford

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

Academics of the University of Birmingham English emigrants to Australia Vice-Chancellors of the Australian National University Presidents of the Australian Institute of Physics Civil servants in the Ministry of Aircraft Production People from Tasmania {{physicist-stub

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