Sir Arnold Hughes "Hugh" Ennor (10 October 1912 – 14 October 1977) was a senior Australian public servant and policymaker.

Life and career

Ennor was born in Melbourne, the son of a joiner. For schooling, he attended a local Roman Catholic school, O'Neill College in

Elsternwick, Victoria Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...

and later

Melbourne Technical College RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

. He graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

as a Bachelor of Science with first class honours in 1938, achieving a Master of Science in 1939 and a Doctor of Science in 1944 at the same university. During the Second World War, Ennor was engaged by Australian Chemical Warfare Research in top secret trials in northern Queensland of

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...

protective clothing and other counter-measures. He and fellow-biochemist J. W. Legge designed and oversaw the construction of a 100 cubic metre (3,500 cu ft) stainless-steel temperature-controlled gas chamber as part of these experiments. See also '' Keen as Mustard'' Ennor was the first professor appointed by the new

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in 1948. In February 1967, Ennor was appointed

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

of the Australian Government

Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. He served as secretary of the science department for over ten years, in the Department of Science (I), the

Department of Science and Consumer Affairs The Department of Science and Consumer Affairs was an Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy ...

, and the Department of Science (II) He also served for a short period as Acting Secretary of the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

when the Whitlam Government split the

into two. Hugh Ennor died on Friday 14 October 1977 in Canberra, aged 65. His death was just a week after his retirement from the

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

Awards

Ennor was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in January 1963 as a Professor of Biochemistry at the Australian National University. In June 1965 he was made a Knight Bachelor.

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ennor, Hugh 1912 births 1977 deaths Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Knights Bachelor Australian public servants Deaths from cancer in the Australian Capital Territory University of Melbourne alumni Secretaries of the Australian Government Education Department Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science 20th-century Australian public servants People from the City of Glen Eira Public servants from Melbourne Australian National University faculty