Minutes of the Annual Meeting, 22nd MAY, 1940.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 70, 1940-41, Page I

Minutes of the Annual Meeting, 22nd MAY, 1940. The Annual Meeting of the Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand was held on Wednesday, 22nd May, 1940, at 10 a.m., in the Council Room, Victoria University College, Wellington. The President, the Reverend Dr. J. E. Holloway, presided, and the following were present:— The Vice-President, Professor W. P. Evans; Representing the Government: Mr. B. C. Aston, Professor E. R. Hudson, Dr. E. Marsden, and Dr. W. R. B. Oliver; Representing Auckland Institute: Mr. G. Archey and Professor H. W. Segar; Representing Wellington Branch: Dr. H. H. Allan and Mr. F. R. Callaghan; Representing Canterbury Branch: Dr. R. A. Falla and Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf; Representing Otago Branch: Dr. C. M. Focken and Mr. G. Simpson; Representing Hawke's Bay Branch: Mr. G. V. Hudson; Representing Manawatu Branch: Mr. M. A. Eliott; Representing Southland Branch: Mr J. H. Sorensen; Co-opted Member: Dr. P. Marshall. Apologies were received from His Excellency the Governor-General, the Honourable the Minister of Scientific and Industrial Research, and Sir Thomas Easterfield, representative of the Nelson Institute. Presidential Address: The President welcomed two new members to the Council, namely, Dr. R. A. Falla, representing the Canterbury Branch, and Mr. J. H. Sorensen, representing the Southland Branch, a recently resuscitated Member Body. He also paid a tribute to the work of Mr. E. F. Stead while a member of the Council. Before commencing his address, Dr. Holloway moved the following resolution of loyalty to His Majesty the King:— That this Annual Meeting of the Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand expresses its loyalty to His Majesty the King, and assures him and his Ministers in New Zealand of the whole-hearted support of the members of this Society in the efforts that are being made to bring the present great conflict with our enemies to a successful issue, and that the Council directs that this resolution be forwarded to the Right Honourable the Prime Minister with a request that it be respectfully submitted to His Majesty.

Dr. Holloway then read his Presidential Address, in which he made reference to the great loss sustained by the Society through the death of Dr. E. Kidson, O.B.E., who had been a member of the Council from 1933–1936. Dr. Holloway also referred to the death of Dr. A. C. Haddon, who had been an Honorary Member of the Society since 1925. At the conclusion of the address Mr Hudson moved that a very hearty vote of thanks be accorded to Dr. Holloway, and this was unanimously carried. On the motion of Dr. Oliver, seconded by Dr. Focken, it was resolved to ask Dr Holloway to allow his address to be printed in the Transactions. Lunch Adjournment: It was decided to adjourn for lunch at 12.45, resuming at 2.15 p.m., and Professor Evans and Dr. Marshall extended an invitation to the Council to lunch at the D.I.C. Notices of Motion: Two notices of motion were handed in and were read by the President and deferred for consideration until the afternoon session. Hector Award: The President read the report of the Hector Award Committee as follows:— The Hector Award Committee appointed by the Council at its 1939 meeting unanimously recommends that the Hector Medal and Prize for 1940 be awarded to Dr. Donald Bannerman Macleod, of Christchurch, for outstanding work in connection with molecular physics. The Committee considers Dr. Macleod's work to be of fundamental importance and of a high order of merit, showing initiative and originality both in its conception and in its experimental details. The Committee thinks it worth mentioning that Dr. Macleod's work is well known to European scientists and has been freely used by them. (Signed)W. P. Evans, Convener Hector Award Committee.