Earth Sciences History Group (A Specialist Group of the Geological Society of Australia Inc.) Email Bulletin No. 52 12 August 2016
Award of the Tom Vallance Medal The Tom Vallance Medal is awarded every two years and presented, insofar as is practical or possible, at the Society’s biennial Australian Earth Sciences Convention, which this year was held in Adelaide from 26 to 30 June. The objective of the award is to recognize people who have made a significant contribution to researching, recording, investigating, documenting and/or publishing about people, places or events of historical importance to the geological sciences in Australia/Australasia. It honours Dr Thomas George Vallance (1928–1993) who was formerly Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. Originally a petrologist, his work tracing geological expertise in Sydney during the late 18th and early 19th centuries shed unexpected light on scientific activity in the colony and ignited his interest in the history of geology. He researched and published many articles and papers on famous, infamous and little-known early pioneers in this field. The 2016 Tom Vallance Medal has been awarded to Tom Darragh. The award was announced and the citation read by Ian Withnall at the awards ceremony during the Australian Earth Science Convention in Adelaide on 30 June. However, because Tom was unable to be in Adelaide in person, the medal was presented at a meeting of the Victorian Division in Tom’s home town of Melbourne. The medal was presented to Tom by Bernie Joyce.
Tom Darragh (photograph by David Holloway) The citation for the award to Tom is as follows: Tom Darragh has been an active researcher in the history of geology of Australia especially Victoria for decades and was highly regarded by Tom Vallance. Tom’s publication record reveals the breadth and depth of his contribution, as does his longstanding membership of the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO). Tom Darragh has shown special interest in the biographies of Australian geologists, history of palaeontology, early geological maps, institutional history and the geological contribution of German scientists in Australia. Notably Tom has been enlisted by the Australian Dictionary of Biography to undertake a large number of biographical entries on their behalf. He has also contributed papers to the highly regarded “Historical Records of Australian Science”. Most recently Tom’s work on the translation, editing and commentary on the Leichhardt diaries deserves special praise.
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