Adrien Albert (19 November 1907 – 29 December 1989) was a leading authority in the development of medicinal chemistry in Australia. Albert also authored many important books on chemistry, including one on selective toxicity. His father, Jacques Albert, was a businessman in the music industry, and took a bride many years his junior; Mary Eliza Blanche. Albert had two much older half brothers, stemming from his father's previous marriage. After a few years, Jacques died, and so, Adrien Albert was raised by his mother and another relative. Albert attended schools in Randwick and Coogee, but soon settled into the Scots College in Sydney where he excelled in both music and science. He graduated in 1924.

Education and appointments

He was awarded BSc with first class honours and the University Medal in 1932 at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

. He gained a PhD in 1937 and a DSc in 1947 from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

. His appointments included Lecturer at the University of Sydney (1938–1947), advisor to the Medical Directorate of the Australian Army (1942–1947), research at the

Wellcome Research Institute Wellcome () is a supermarket chain owned by British conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings via its DFI Retail Group subsidiary. The Wellcome supermarket chain is one of the two largest supermarket chains in Hong Kong, the other being Parkn ...

in London (1947–1948) and in 1948 the Foundation Chair of Medical Chemistry in the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the

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 and ...

in Canberra where he established the Department of Medical Chemistry. He was a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy ...

Scholarship

Albert was a scholar of heterocyclic chemistry. He authored ''Selective Toxicity: The Physico-Chemical Basis of Therapy'', first published by Chapman and Hall in 1951.

Honors and legacy

Albert was made an

Officer 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 Go ...

(AO) in the 1989 Australia Day Honours for "services to medical chemistry, particularly in the fields of teaching and research". The Adrien Albert Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Sydney was established in his honour in 1989. His bequest funds the Adrien Albert Lectureship, awarded every two years by the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

.Adrien Albert Lectureship
Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org The

Royal Australian Chemical Institute The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) is both the qualifying body in Australia for professional chemists and a learned society promoting the science and practice of chemistry in all its branches. The RACI hosts conferences, seminars an ...

established th
Adrien Albert award
in his honour.

References

External links

www.chem.swin.edu.au

www.asap.unimelb.edu.au *Memoir originally published in ''Historical Records of Australian Science'', Vol.8, No.2, 1990, 63-75.
D.J. Brown Historical Records of Australian Science, Vol.8, No.2, 1990, 63-75
sydney.edu.au

www.asap.unimelb.edu.au ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Adrien 1907 births 1989 deaths Australian chemists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Alumni of the University of London People from Canberra Scientists from Sydney Officers of the Order of Australia