Sir James William Foots (12 July 1916 – 21 August 2010) was an Australian mining engineer and Chairman of

Mount Isa Mines Mount Isa Mines Limited ("MIM") operates the Mount Isa copper, lead, zinc and silver mines near Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia as part of the Glencore group of companies. For a brief period in 1980, MIM was Australia's largest company. It has ...

and

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

Early life

James William Foots was born in

Jamieson, Victoria Jamieson is a small town in Victoria, Australia. It is located at the junction of the Goulburn River and Jamieson River, north-east of Melbourne. The name is believed to have been derived from George Jamieson, a shepherd who grazed sheep in the ...

on 12 July 1916, the son of William Foots, who worked as an explosives expert in the Jamieson gold mines and his wife Ethel Allen. His mother died when he was three, and he and his brother were raised by their grandparents. He attended

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

High school where he completed his studies as the Dux of the school. He won a scholarship to attend 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 ...

, but was compelled to complete another matriculation year, when it was felt he was too young to attend University. He graduated with a degree in Mining Engineering in 1937.

Career

Foots took up work at the

Zinc Corporation Consolidated Zinc was an Australian mining company from 1905 to 1962. History The company's initial operations focused on extracting zinc from mine tailings of the Broken Hill Ore Deposit at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. The company ...

mine in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

, and married Thora Thomas in 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he and colleague, George Fisher worked on the creation of underground fuel storage tanks in Darwin during persistent bombing raids, before returning to work in Captain's Flat and Broken Hill in 1946. Foots moved to

, Queensland in 1952. He rose to the position of general manager of Mount Isa Mines Limited in 1955, succeeding George Fisher. Foots continued to lead the company later as chief executive and chairman of MIM Holidings Ltd, where he helped the group to expand metal production of lead, silver, copper and zinc. Foots was appointed to the Senate of

The University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = Br ...

in 1970, and also held the position of Inaugural Chairman of The University of Queensland Foundation from 1982 to 1985. He was a governor of the foundation until 1992. He helped to establish the

Julius Kruttschnitt Julius Kruttschnitt (July 30, 1854 – June 15, 1925) was a German American railroad executive. Biography He was born on July 30, 1854 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1873 and worked briefly as a s ...

Mineral Research Centre in 1970, in recognition of Kruttschnitt's work in Mt Isa and in helping to develop the Silver Mine acquired by the university in Indooroopilly. Foots was chancellor of The University of Queensland from 1985 to 1992. He was director of Uniquest from 1993 to 1997. He was a chairman of

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it ...

from 1987 to 1989. He was president of the Australian Mining Council and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1974. He was on the board of Castlemaine Toohey's Limited from 1983 to 1985, the National Mutual Life Association of Australasia Limited from 1982 to 1985 and

ASARCO Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper. The company has been a subsidiary of Grupo México since 1999. Its three larges ...

Incorporated 1985–1987. Foots died in Caloundra, Queensland on 21 August 2010. He was survived by his children and grandchildren. His wife Thora died in May 2010.

Legacy

Foots established a number of scholarships to support students in Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Metallurgical Engineering. A building was also named in his honour at the St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland. A bridge in Mount Isa bears his name (2009).

Honours

* 1972 –

Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. History The Institute had its genesis in 1893 with ...

Medal. * 1975 – Foots was appointed

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the

1975 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1975 to celeb ...

in recognition of his services to the mining industry. * 1975 – University of Melbourne Kernot Memorial Medal. * 1976 -

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering There are almost 900 living fellows of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. The post-nominal is FTSE. The following lists many notable living and deceased Fellows. Post-nominal statistics ;Numbers of active/living Fellows i ...

(FTSE). * 1979 – Australian Institute of Management John Storey Medal. * 1982 – Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from The University of Queensland in 1982. * 1982 – J.P. Thompson Foundation Gold Medal. * 1984 – Advance Australia Award. * 1984 - Honorary Fellowship of the

(HonFAusIMM) * 1985 –

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

Distinguished Auxiliary Service Cross. * 1986 – Federal Republic of Germany Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit. * 1987 – Mining and Metallurgy (UK) Gold Medal * 1989 – Gold Medal, Company Director's Association of Australia (Qld). * 1992 –

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO) * 1993 – Aus I.M.M. Beryl Jacka Award. * 2001 –

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

It's an Honour: Centenary Medal
Retrieved 9 July 2018 * 2004 – Civilian Service Medal 1939–45 (Darwin Service 1943–1944). * 1972 Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. * 1977 Honorary Fellow, The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, London. * 1985 Honorary Member, The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. * 1987 Life Member, The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy * 2001 Life Member, Australian Mining Hall of Fame. * 2003 Inducted into the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame.

Memberships

* 1956 Member of council, The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. * 1960 Member of the C.S.I.R.O. Advisory Council. * 1971 Member, Red Shield Appeal Committee, The Salvation Army, Brisbane. * 1989 Member, Mater Hospitals Trust Board.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foots, James 1916 births 2010 deaths Australian business and financial journalists Australian mining engineers Australian Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of Australia University of Queensland Westpac people