Sir Colin York Syme (22 April 190319 January 1986) was an Australian lawyer, businessman, technological innovator, and medical research administrator. He was noted as Chairman of

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

for nineteen years (1952–71), and President of the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for ...

for seventeen years (1961–78). Colin Syme studied in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and Sydney before joining the Melbourne legal firm of Hedderwick, Fookes and Alston in 1923. An articled clerk, Syme had ambitions to become a barrister, but after the premature death of Bruce Hedderwick in 1925, he accepted an offer to stay at the firm and was made a partner in 1928, remaining so until 1966. Meanwhile, in 1937, he became a director of BHP and many of its subsidiaries, including Tubemakers of Australia,

Australian Iron & Steel Australian Iron & Steel was an Australian iron and steel manufacturer. History Public company (1928-1935) Australian Iron & Steel (AI&S) was established in 1928 to take over the business of Hoskins Iron & Steel. That company had already comme ...

, Rylands Bros and the

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...

. He was also a director of a number of other companies, including Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand, Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort, the Private Investment Company for Asia,

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...

, National Australia Bank and the International Iron & Steel Institute. In 1972, the Federal Government set up a committee under the Chairmanship of Sir Colin Syme to advise it on science and technology. It was known as the Syme Committee. In 1973 he and Lance Townsend co-chaired an inquiry into

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n health services, which produced findings widely known as the Syme-Townsend report, a major outcome of which was the creation of the Health Commission of Victoria. Late in his career, he was President of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. When he retired from the latter position in 1978, the board established the Colin Syme Fellowship Fund, to nurture the career development of a talented young investigator within the Institute.

Honours

On 8 June 1963, Colin Syme was made a

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 orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

. On 6 June 1977, he was appointed a Knight of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

(AK), "for extraordinary and meritorious service to industry, particularly in the fields of research and technology".It's an Honour: AK
/ref> He was the inaugural President of the Order of Australia Association, from January 1980 to January 1983. He was an Honorary Doctor of Laws. His portrait, painted by Judy Cassab, hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.

References

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research ANNUAL REPORT 2005-2006WEHI Annual Report 1997/1998 Director’s Report
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070607041839/http://www.mup.unimelb.edu.au/speech/sir_andrew_wehi_speech.htmlbr>Allens Arthur Robinson: Our history
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080222155412/http://www.theorderofaustralia.asn.au/about_us/previous_national_presidents_and_chairman.php The Order of Australia Association: Past National Presidents of the Association]
National Portrait Gallery - Sir Colin Syme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syme, Colin Australian Knights Bachelor BHP people Knights of the Order of Australia 1903 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Australian lawyers 20th-century Australian businesspeople