Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal
This annual award, named in honour of Sir Peter Nicol Russell, a 19th century Sydney industrialist who supported engineering initiatives in Australia, stands as the pinnacle of recognition bestowed by Engineers Australia. Recipients of this award embody:
- The utmost standards of technical proficiency, professional excellence and dedication to community service within engineering.
- Exceptional leadership and managerial expertise, serving as exemplary figures within the engineering profession.
- The profound and far-reaching impacts of engineering through their significant contributions.
A list of engineers who have been awarded the PNR Medal are:
| Year Awarded | Recipient | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dr Robin J Batterham AO HonFIEAust CPEng(Ret) |
Professor Batterham is one of Australia’s most pre-eminent engineers. His achievements are extraordinary, with acknowledged global impact to the engineering profession, creating and advancing innovative technologies that have benefited society and the welfare of the community. His visionary leadership across industry and government has guided and inspired thousands of direct reports and generations of Australians. His inspirational direction continues to provide strategies and policies that are utilised by government and industry now and for decades to come. His intellectual ability continues to drive new developments and processes that lay the foundation for many substantial companies and global relationships. Professor Batterham has been on the list of the Engineers Australia’s 100 most influential engineers (2004–2007, 2009–2011). He was President of the Academy of Technology and Engineering, Chief Scientist of Australia and President of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, deeply influencing the practice of engineering in Australia and across the world. He has gained universal respect for his unrelenting search for scientific truth and his intellectual and moral honesty. |
| 2024 | Dr Marlene Kanga AO HonFIEAust CPEng EngExec NER |
Dr Marlene Kanga has made transformative, longlasting contributions to engineering in Australia and internationally. Among Australia’s top 10 women engineers, she is an Officer of the Order of Australia, “for distinguished service to engineering, as a global leader and role model to women.” Marlene is a non-executive director of organisations in utilities, transport and innovation and leads commercialisation of Australian research in artificial intelligence and hydrogen technologies. |
| 2023 | Dianne Boddy | |
| 2022 | Peter Cockbain AM | |
| 2021 | Em/Prof Elizabeth Taylor | |
| 2020 | Prof Harry Poulos | |
| 2019 | Prof Brian Anderson | |
| 2018 | Dr Alan Finkel | |
| 2017 | Prof Mary O'Kane | |
| 2016 | Mr Richard Albert Kell | |
| 2015 | Hon Sir Eric Neal | |
| 2014 | Dr Maxwell Gordon Lay | |
| 2013 | Mr Barry Grear | |
| 2012 | Mr John Michael Grill | |
| 2011 | Prof Andrew Richard Downing | |
| 2010 | Mr Allan William Roberts | |
| 2009 | Prof Michael Bruce Dureau | |
| 2008 | Mr Martin Hallowell Thomas | |
| 2007 | Mrs Else Egede Shepherd | |
| 2006 | Dr Peter Farrell | |
| 2005 | Prof Graeme Jameson | |
| 2004 | Mr John Laurie | |
| 2003 | Dr Arthur Bishop | |
| 2002 | Dr Kenneth Michael | |
| 2001 | Mr Wallace Macarthur King | |
| 2000 | Dr Tom Connor | |
| 1999 | Mr Donald George Fry | |
| 1998 | Dr John Nutt | |
| 1997 | Dr Peter Owen Miller | |
| 1996 | Mr Andrew Bruce Sinclair | |
| 1995 | Prof Jorg Imberger | |
| 1994 | Dr Robert Culver | |
| 1993 | Mr William Harold Clough | |
| 1992 | Dr Michael Anthony Sargent | |
| 1991 | Prof Rolf G.H. Prince | |
| 1990 | Mr Donald James Little | |
| 1989 | Dr Charles Harold Warman | |
| 1988 | Em Prof Peter Thomas Fink | |
| 1987 | Prof John Douglas Correll Crisp | |
| 1986 | Em Prof Lance Aubrey Endersbee | |
| 1985 | Sir Alfred William Tyree | |
| 1984 | Mr Douglas Gordon Price | |
| 1983 | Prof Kenneth Henderson Hunt | |
| 1982 | Mr Donald Hector Aitken | |
| 1981 | Dr William Piper Brown | |
| 1980 | Mr Roger Neill Morse | |
| 1979 | Dr Don Watkyn Woods | |
| 1978 | Sir Charles Newton Barton | |
| 1977 | Dr David Milton Myers | |
| 1976 | Sir Louis Matheson | |
| 1975 | Prof Jack William Roderick | |
| 1974 | Sir John Clifton Vaughan Holland | |
| 1973 | Dr Ian Landlands | |
| 1972 | Mr Bernard James Callinan | |
| 1971 | Mr Raymond Arthur Priddle | |
| 1970 | Prof Wilbur Norman Christiansen | |
| 1969 | Mr Julian Randal Dridan | |
| 1968 | Sir Willis Henry Connolly | |
| 1967 | Sir Ian Munro McLennan | |
| 1966 | Mr Donald Victor Darwin | |
| 1965 | Mr Thomas Bruce Nicol | |
| 1964 | Sir Robert Rutherford Blackwood | |
| 1963 | Mr Allan Walton Knight | |
| 1962 | Capt George Ian Hutcheson | |
| 1961 | Sir James Arthur Holt | |
| 1960 | Sir Albert Edwin Axon | |
| 1959 | Mr William Rayner Hebblewhite | |
| 1958 | Sir Walter Eric Bassett | |
| 1957 | Sir Lewis Ronald East | |
| 1956 | Sir John Proctor Tivey | |
| 1955 | Prof Alan Burn | |
| 1954 | Sir Louis Francis Loder | |
| 1953 | Radm Alex Broughton Doyle | |
| 1952 | Sir Russell John Dumas | |
| 1951 | Mr John Gurner Burnell | |
| 1950 | Mr William HogarthRobertson Nimmo | |
| 1949 | Dr Thomas Havnes Upton | |
| 1948 | Mr Robert Lawson | |
| 1947 | Brig James Montagu Christian Corlette | |
| 1946 | Mr Walter Harold Myers | |
| 1945 | Sir William Goodman | |
| 1944 | Sir John Madsen | |
| 1943 | Mr Edgar Gower Ritchie | |
| 1942 | Sir John Robert Kemp | |
| 1941 | Mr Robert James Boyd | |
| 1940 | Mr Alexander James Gibson | |
| 1939 | Sir Henry Barraclough | |
| 1938 | Mr Herbert Reah Harper | |
| 1937 | Mr Dudley Francis John Harricks | |
| 1936 | Mr Hugh Rose Forbes Mackay | |
| 1935 | Mr John Henry Osborn Eaton | |
| 1934 | Mr Francis William Clements | |
| 1933 | Mr Maurice Edwin Kernot | |
| 1932 | Dr John Job Crew Bradfield | |
| 1931 | Prof Roger William Hercules Hawken, Professor of Engineering, University of Queensland | |
| 1930 | Mr Henry Harvey Dare, Commissioner of Water Conservation and Irrigation, NSW | |
| 1929 | Sir John Monash, Chairman, State Electricity Commission of Victoria | |
| 1928 | Sir Robert William Chapman, Professor of Engineering at the University of Adelaide | |
| 1927 | Sir George Alfred Julius, Consulting Engineer | |
| 1926 | Mr Orlando William Brain, Assistant Commissioner, NSW Government Railways and Tramways | |
| 1925 | Mr Richard Ernest Sexton, Engineer-in-Chief, Queensland Railways | |
| 1924 | Mr James Fraser, Chief Commissioner, NSW Govt. Railways and Tramways | |
| 1923 | Prof William Henry Warren, Challis Professor of Engineering, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney |
References:
Institution of Engineers, P. N. Russell Memorial Medal [List of recipients 1923 - 1931], Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, vol. 3, 1931, p. 445. (Note: Journal article says 1928 winner was Mr B A Smith. Correct winner was Sir Robert Chapman which has been confirmed via personal communication with Ken McInnes)
