Professor Robert Kerford Morton

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

(7 August 1920 – 27 September 1963) was an Australian

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

. He was Associate Professor of Biochemistry at 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 ...

from 1952 to 1958, and Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

Waite Agricultural Research Institute The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

from 1959 to 1962. In 1963 he became Professor of Biochemistry at Adelaide, but died that year as the result of an

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researcher ...

in his laboratory.

Career

Morton was born on 7 August 1920 in

Cootamundra, New South Wales Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

. His family settled in Sydney where Morton attended

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...

. From 1936 to 1938 he attended

Hawkesbury Agricultural College Hawkesbury Agricultural College was the first agricultural college in New South Wales, Australia, based in Richmond. It operated from 1891 to 1989. It was established on 10 March 1891, and formally opened by Minister for Mines and Agriculture ...

where he earned a Diploma in Dairy Technology before attending the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. His studies were interrupted by the war where he served as a Lieutenant in Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy. After the war he returned to Sydney where he graduated with First Class Honours in 1948. Awarded the first Gowrie Travelling Scholarship, he married Jessie Noelle Telfer and they proceeded to the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where in 1952 he was awarded a Ph.D. In 1952 he returned to a Senior Lecturer position at the University of Melbourne where he was rapidly promoted to reader and associate professor. While at Melbourne he became friends with the head of the biochemistry department, Professor Victor Trikojus. In 1957 he was elected a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy. ...

. In 1959 he took the position of Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Adelaide's Waite Agricultural Research Institute. In 1962 he took a sabbatical, and in 1963 he returned to Adelaide to take up the chair of Biochemistry. Morton died in Adelaide on 27 September 1963, at age 44, when a large quantity of

acetone Acetone (2-propanone or dimethyl ketone), is an organic compound with the formula . It is the simplest and smallest ketone (). It is a colorless, highly volatile and flammable liquid with a characteristic pungent odour. Acetone is miscib ...

he was using in his laboratory exploded.

Career

References

Further reading