Lumen Waite 100 - Flipbook - Page 34
WORDS › ISAAC FREEMAN | ILLUSTRATIONS › MITCH HEARN
Human infrastructure
Though Peter Waite’s name looms large over our eastern campus,
there are many other prominent people who, through their research
or riches, contributed to the University of Adelaide, WARI, or South
Australian science, and earned a building dedication in response.
Herbert George ‘Andy’ Andrewartha
Murdoch Stanley McLeod
Professor Harold William Woolhouse
Andrewartha Gate
McLeod House
Woolhouse Library
Herbert G. Andrewartha joined the Waite
in the 1930s, bringing a stern interest in
bugs. As an entomologist, Herbert (known
as Andy) studied apple thrips and the
plague grasshopper, and was often assisted
by his biologist wife, Hattie. His book, The
Distribution and Abundance of Animals, coauthored with Charles Birch, posited that
animal abundance and distribution were
influenced by their environment.
Through his passion for motorcycles,
Murdoch Stanley McLeod began working in
a bicycle and motorcycle shop in Jamestown
in 1915. Upon the owner’s retirement, the
business was offered to McLeod, which soon
became M. S. McLeod’s Cycles. The business
evolved into a fully fledged re-treader of motor
vehicle tyres, and later a public company.
As a benefactor, McLeod financed medical
research and teaching at the University and
provided funding for the Adelaide Women’s
and Children’s Hospital.
A botanist at heart, Harold William
Woolhouse did not initially attend university
upon finishing school, choosing instead to
work for a year as a market gardener. Once
he returned to study, Woolhouse delved into
horticultural botany, receiving a Bachelor
of Science from the University of Reading
and a PhD from the University of Adelaide.
Woolhouse became Director of the Waite
in 1990, and oversaw the transformation of
the Institute into the southern hemisphere’s
premier plant-research institute.
Alfred ‘Alf’ Hannaford MBE
Hannaford Building
Working on his family farm near Riverton, a
24-year-old Alfred “Alf” Hannaford invented
a wet-wheat pickling machine that prevented
smut in wheat. He would soon give up farm
work to focus on inventing and manufacturing
agricultural machinery. Hannaford worked
closely with Waite staff to improve the quality
of cereal and pasture crops. Hannaford
bequeathed $372,000 to the University for
research in 1969, leading to a fellowship,
workshops, lectures, and seminars.
John Kingsley Taylor OBE
Taylor Building
John Stanley Davies
Davies Building
J.K. Taylor’s contributions to soil science
within South Australia had a lasting impact.
Taylor was appointed to undertake the first
soils surveys for the CSIR Division of Soils,
which proved incredibly valuable to the CSIR.
He also established regional laboratories.
Taylor was appointed as Deputy Chief and
then later Chief of the Division in 1947.
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A pastoralist and beef cattle breeder
who lived in Spalding, north of Clare, John
Stanley Davies bequeathed the University
of Adelaide $2 million in property in the
late 1960s. The University continues his
work as a cattle breeder through the Davies
Livestock Research Centre, located at the
Roseworthy campus.
