Appointing a Professor: Reflections on Filling the Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Sydney in 1948

Abstract

Chemistry Departments, like other sections of Australian universities, long looked to Britain as the source of their senior appointees. None more so than the University of Sydney, where an attempt to fill the chair of organic chemistry in 1948 went badly awry. The selected candidate, an English chemist with a modest research record but qualities of leadership that were valued by the Head of School at Sydney, Professor Raymond Le Fèvre, at first accepted but then declined the appointment. The main cause for his change of heart was the support in the university, which came to the attention of the popular press, for the appointment of an internal candidate. This was Dr Francis Lions, a graduate of the university and a staff member for two decades who had a strong record of chemical research. Le Fèvre expressed a preference for someone more co-operative than Lions, with whom he had already clashed. The chair remained vacant for several years but was eventually filled by the appointment of an Australian, Arthur Birch. Australian universities at that time were slowly moving to appoint more local candidates to chairs whereas in the past they had almost automatically looked to Britain for their recruits. As well as noting this shift, this account of the 1948 incident also raises questions about the implicit and explicit criteria on which appointments are made and compares the case study with other contentious appointments in a range of disciplines in Australian universities.