Robert Graham Clark is an Australian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

. He was appointed Professor and Chair of Energy Strategy and Policy at

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

(UNSW) in 2012. Prior to this he was Chief Defence Scientist from 2008 to 2011 and Professor of Experimental Physics at University of New South Wales, where he established the National Magnet Laboratory and Semiconductor Nanofabrication Facility. Clark joined the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

as a Cadet Midshipman in 1969. He graduated from the RAN college with a Bachelor of Science from the

, then served on eight ships before leaving the navy in 1979. He holds an MA from Oxford and a PhD from the University of New South Wales. He took several positions at UNSW, culminating in Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology, before taking on the role of Chief Defence Scientist. Clark was appointed an

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 ...

on Australia Day 2013 "for distinguished service to science and technology through leadership and governance of the scientific community of the Australian Defence Force and through contributions to quantum computing and nanotechnology". and was awarded the

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 ...

on 1 January 2001 "for contribution to world leading research in the field of quantum computing and physics". He is 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 ...

(2001), a Distinguished Fellow of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

(2009), and has received numerous other acknowledgements and awards.

References

Living people Australian physicists Chief Defence Scientists Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Year of birth missing (living people) {{physicist-stub