Fred White (physicist)

Sir Frederick William George White KBE FAA FRS (26 May 1905 – 17 August 1994) was a New Zealand-born Australian physicist and ornithologist who was Chairman of CSIRO from 1959 to 1970.

Due to his academic performance, he won a scholarship from the University of New Zealand, and this award enabled him to attend St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied under Ernest Rutherford.

During World War II, White worked on secret projects developing radar in New Zealand and Australia.

[2] In the 1954 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

[6] In the 1962 Birthday Honours, this was elevated to the class of Knight Commander of the same order (KBE).

White (centre) at the Regional Meeting of National Scientific Research Organisations in 1964 with Senator John Gorton (minister-in-charge of the CSIRO) and UNESCO Director-General René Maheu