Sir Ian Munro McLennan (30 November 1909 – 25 October 1998) was an Australian director of public companies, most notably as Chairman of Australia's then largest company, the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

). McLennan was born in

Stawell, Victoria Stawell ( "stall"), is an Australian town in the Wimmera region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria west-north-west of the state capital, Melbourne. Located within the Shire of Northern Grampians Local government in Australia, local government are ...

, and spent his early childhood at

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a town located north of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway (Victoria), Midland Highw ...

. He attended

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is a private, Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college was established in 1851 as The Melbourne Academy in a house in Spri ...

as a boarder, where he was equal Dux of School in 1927. After leaving school he studied electrical engineering at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and was a resident at the University's

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. H ...

. After graduating from university in 1932 he joined the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (

) as a cadet in its

Whyalla Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's Hill, and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Gawler, and along ...

works and at the nearby

Iron Knob Iron Knob is a town in the Australian state of South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula immediately south of the Eyre Highway. At the 2006 census, Iron Knob and the surrounding area had a population of 199. The town obtained its name from its prox ...

iron-ore mine. In April 1971 McLennan was appointed Chairman and Director of Administration of

, positions he held until 1977 when he reached the compulsory retirement age for BHP directors. Thus, in just less than forty years he had moved through the company ranks to its most senior position. During that time he had guided the company though a series of major changes including its move into petroleum exploration and production in offshore

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

. His directorships and roles included: *Chairman of

*Chairman of

ANZ Bank The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, commonly known as ANZ Bank, is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fo ...

*Director of ICI Australia *Chairman of Interscan Australia Pty Ltd *Director of Henry Jones IXL *Member of the

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Advisory Council 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 ...

(FAA), a Foundation

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering There are almost 900 living fellows of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. The post-nominal is FTSE. The following lists many notable living and deceased Fellows. Post-nominal statistics ;Numbers of active/living Fellows i ...

(FTSE), and also the Foundation President of ATSE (1975–1983). He was made an honorary fellow of the

Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. History The Institute had its genesis in 1893 with ...

(HonFAusIMM) in 1979, and was on its council, and was its president in 1940. In 1956, he was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) for his services as a member of the Immigration Planning Council.McLENNAN, Ian Munro - The Order of the British Empire - Commander (CBE)
, 2 January 1956, It's an Honour. In 1963, he was elevated to

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) for services to industry. McLennan endowed his old school,

with the Sir Ian McLennan Chair of Design and Technology. He died in Melbourne in 1998.

Honours and awards

Source: *1964: James N. Kirby Medal of the Institute of Production Engineers *1968: Honorary Doctorates of Engineering, University of Melbourne and University of Newcastle *1968: Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia *1981: Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal of the

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. The association was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Penns ...

*1981:

Bessemer Gold Medal The Bessemer Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) "for outstanding services to the steel industry, to the inventor or designer of any significant innovation in the process employed in the manufact ...

of The Metals Society (Great Britain). *1979:

Knight Commander of the 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 ...

(KCMG) for services to youth, the community and industryMcLENNAN, Ian Munro - The Order of St Michael and St George- Knights Commander (KCMG)
30 December 1978, It's an Honour. *1986: The First Class

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...

from the Emperor of Japan

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLennan, Ian 1909 births 1998 deaths Australia and New Zealand Banking Group People from Stawell, Victoria People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Businesspeople from Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Bessemer Gold Medal Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire