Frank T. M. White
Awarded a Free Place Scholarship (1927–30), he enrolled in the University of Melbourne to pursue a Bachelor of Metallurgical Engineering degree B.Met.E., conferred in 1931.
[9] In 1934, a mining ordinance to regulate a fledgling industry (initially at Vatukoula) was introduced by the British Colonial Administration in Fiji.
Since the outbreak of World War II in November 1939, FDF had operated within the command structure of the New Zealand Defence Force.
However, following the onset of the Pacific War in December 1941, during 1942 the FDF was transferred to US command (37th Infantry Division) and renamed the Fiji Military Force (FMF).
As a special platoon commander, he was now assigned responsibility for training military engineers in explosive demolition methods and related preparations.
He traveled to mining districts to inspect their state of repair and developed a scheme for the return of equipment from Japanese centres of utilisation.
Close examination of mine survey plans (initialed and dated) reflect his seminal role as the architect for this transformation.
[25] Under his leadership, the Queensland University Experimental Mine was promptly recognized as an integral part of the educational and research capacity of the school.
It played an important role in the implementation of the Colombo Plan for staff training for the mineral industries of South-East Asia,[26] and for the university as a whole was considered a "great success".
conferences, he contributed scholarly papers on the antiquity of metallurgy, and its development over the ages; these works on the history of metals were subsequently published.
He was an active member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, where he made scholarly contributions, including a paper on the history of coal production and use.
[34] In 1957, the International Geophysical Year, Professor White was awarded a Carnegie Fellowship (Grant in Aid), for which he took study leave in the interests of mining and metallurgical education, research and related developments in Western Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America (the US and Canada).
In addition to general operating funds from UQ, numerous firms associated with the minerals industry provided generous grants or in-kind support.
At the close of the decade, note was made of:[35] Atlas Copco, Australian Wire and Rope Works, Balgowan Collieries, Commonwealth Industrial Gases, Crossle & Cameron Industries, Dowty Equipment, Etudes et Enterprises, Evans Deakin & Co., Donald Fraser Esc., Golden Plateau, Holman Bros., MR Hornibrooke, Huwood Co., Mount Isa Mines Ltd, Mount Morgan Ltd, Parbury Henty & Co., and Zinc Corporation.
[37] Transformation of the experimental mine and of the department as a whole into a research intensive school was underway; ensuing years would witness a steady expansion of grant support.
As published,[38] this included photographs of the mainshaft headframe, mining research laboratory, experimental pilot plant (showing equipment, research laboratories and workshop), and an inclined tramway leading into the open cut, where jet piercing, a drill test rig, and inflammability station were located.
This venture proved a great success, not only as to its immediate purpose, but also in the attraction of community attention and, perhaps even more importantly, Commonwealth funds[39] Bryan also made the following statement: "Research, … finally came into its own in 1959 with a statement in the Senate by the Vice-Chancellor that it had reached such a volume that it could no longer be viewed as a sideline… highlighted by the awarding to the Physics department of an American Air Force contract… for space research, and by the initiation of mineral dressing investigations at the university mine[40] Frank T.M.
[41] The following extract from Professor White's address, delivered in the socio-political context of Queensland in the mid-1950s, reveals the philosophy behind a vision that remains relevant to the present.
His seminal and sustaining contribution was acknowledged by Chancellor, Sir James Foots, who stated in 1992:[43] "He was an enthusiastic supporter and fundraiser, and a very satisfied man when International House opened in 1965".
Professor White initiated a program that graduated a large cohort of postgraduate engineers, many of whom served to rebuild the educational capacity of mining throughout Canada.
White married Tessie Marian Nunn (1906–1991) of Claremont, Western Australia in 1935,[49] eldest daughter of Alice (née Walley) and George M Nunn, surveyor for Fremantle Harbour, the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme,[50] and observations of the Solar Eclipse, 21 September 1922 at Wallal, to validate Einstein's Theory.
In 1970, Mount Isa Mines Ltd presented the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) to UQ in honour of a former chairman of the board.
[54] Julius Kruttschnitt (1885–1974) was a close colleague and an active supporter of Frank White's efforts to bring quality mineral industry education and research to UQ since his appointment in 1950.
Lynch had been recruited by Frank White as a research officer in 1958, earning doctorates from UQ in 1965, and the University of New South Wales in 1975.
It goes on to state "The establishment of Queensland Experimental Mine and the development of research facilities at this site were due to his vision and enthusiasm."
On 28 September, 2023, UQ launched the Frank White Memorial Lecture with a keynote addressing "a perspective on the role of Mineral Engineering in the world today".
