Biography:Robin M. Williams
Robert M. Williams CB, CBE | |
|---|---|
| Chairman of the State Services Commission | |
| In office 1975–1981 | |
| Prime Minister | Bill Rowling, Robert Muldoon |
| Preceded by | Ian G. Lythgoe |
| Succeeded by | Mervyn Probine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Died | 18 March 2013 (aged 93) Wellington, New Zealand |
Robert Martin "Robin" Williams, CB, CBE (30 March 1919 – 18 March 2013) was a Chairman of the State Services Commission in New Zealand from 1975 to 1981. He was Vice Chancellor at the University of Otago from 1967 to 1972 and Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University in Canberra from 1973 to 1975.[1]
He studied in Christchurch at Christ's College and then Canterbury University College, graduating MA with first class honours in mathematics and mathematical physics, and studied under Karl Popper, then a refugee lecturer. Postwar he graduated from St. John's College, Cambridge with a BA (1946) and PhD (1949).
He held a MA and a PhD degree, and an honorary LLD degree. He was in the Applied Mathematics Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and worked on the Manhattan Project in 1944–45 on the separation of uranium.[2]
In the 1973 New Year Honours, Williams was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to science, administration and education.[3]
Williams was born in Christchurch, died at Wellington in 2013, aged 93.[4]
References
- ↑ The International Who's Who 1992-93. https://books.google.com/books?id=zEp1LT7dQMoC&q=%22*30+March+1919,+Christchurch;+s.+of+the+late+Canon+Henry+Williams;+m.+Mary+Constance+Thorpe+1944;+%22&dq=%22*30+March+1919,+Christchurch;+s.+of+the+late+Canon+Henry+Williams;+m.+Mary+Constance+Thorpe+1944;+%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HwhHUYbbMerWiwL4jIHICw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
- ↑ "Kiwi scientist dies". Nz.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. https://archive.is/20130412055752/http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/16388192/kiwi-scientist-dies. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
- ↑ No. 45861. 1 January 1973. pp. 33–36. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45861/supplement/33
- ↑ "NZer who worked on first atomic bomb dies | Radio New Zealand News". 2013-03-18. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/130692/nzer-who-worked-on-first-atomic-bomb-dies. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
Sources
Henderson, Alan. The Quest for Efficiency:The Origins of the State Services Commission. ISBN 0-477-05538-9.
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