Obituaries Australia

The death occurred suddently, on 10 Feburary 1955, of Dr. Gordon Kingsley Hughes, who had been Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry in the University of Sydney since 1944. Dr. Hughes, who was forty-six years of age, had been a member of the teaching staff of the University of Sydney since 1934, when he was appointed a Junior Lecturer following some years as a Demonstrator in Chemistry in the University of Adelaid. He held the dgree of Master of Science of the University of Adelaide and last year was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science of that university for his work on the chemistry of natural products.

When war broke out in 1939 Dr. Hughes, then on leave from the University and engaged in research at the University of Oxford under Professor Sir Robert Robinson, was commissioned by the Ministry of Supply to undertake some investigational work for the Ministry. At the request of the Ministry his university leave was extended until August 1940 to enable him to complete the work. Later, during the war period, after his return to Sydney, he several times carried out investigations of problems in organic chemistry for the Commonwealth Government.

In 1946, during the absence of Professor J. C. Earl, then Professor Organic Chemistry, Dr. Hughes was Acting Professor of Organic Chemistry.