About Philip Baxter
Sir John Philip Baxter (7 May 1905 – 5 September 1989) was a British-Australian chemical engineer. He was the second director of the University of New South Wales from 1953, continuing as vice-chancellor when the position's title was changed in 1955. Under his administration, the university grew from its technical college roots into the "fastest growing and most rapidly diversifying tertiary institution in Australia". Philip Baxter College is named in his honour. Baxter was born in Wales, but grew up in England, entering the University of Birmingham at age 16. He joined Imperial Chemical Industries as a chemical engineer, and became head of the Central Laboratory of its General Chemicals Division in Widnes, investigating the chemistry of chlorine and fluorine. He was elected to the Widnes Municipal Council in 1939, a seat he held until 1949. During the Second World War he provided James Chadwick with samples of uranium hexafluoride for Tube Alloys, the British wartime nuclear weapons program, and later established a pilot plant to produce it in Widnes. In 1944, in response to a request from the Americans for someone with expertise in both uranium chemistry and industrial operations, he went to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to assist the Manhattan Project. Baxter was recruited by the then-New South Wales University of Technology as a professor of chemical engineering in 1949. He became one of the most prolific public advocates of nuclear power for Australia. He served as chairman of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission from 1957 to 1972 and the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1969 to 1970. He oversaw the construction of the High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR) at Lucas Heights. He also founded the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and, as the chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust, brought the Sydney Opera House to completion and opening on 20 October 1973. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree with first class honours in 1925, and his Master of Science the following year.
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