Bruce Edward Hobbs

Bruce Edward Hobbs was an Australian structural geologist and science administrator. He was a research fellow of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1991 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2009. He was also the first Chief Scientist of Western Australia from 2003 to 2006. Hobbs was born on 23 October 1936 in Sydney. He completed his secondary schooling at Newcastle Boys High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney in 1959. He then obtained his PhD in Science from the same university in 1964, with a thesis on tectonic studies in the Central West of New South Wales. Hobbs had a distinguished academic career, holding various positions at the University of Sydney, the University of California, the Australian National University, the State University of New York, Monash University, Brown University and the University of California, Davis. He was a member of the Australian Science and Technology Council from 1977 to 1982 and received several awards, including the Stillwell Award from the Geological Society of Australia in 1967, the United States Antarctic Research Program Medal in 1970 and two Fulbright Awards in 1966 and 1979. Hobbs left full-time work as an academic to join the CSIRO in 1984 as Chief Research Scientist in the Division of Geomechanics. He later became Chief of CSIRO Exploration and Mining in 1992 and Deputy Chief Executive of Minerals and Energy in 2000. He retired from CSIRO in 2002 but remained as an honorary research fellow. He also became an adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia. Hobbs was known for his research on structural geology, especially on developing computer applications that simulate mechanical behaviour, fluid flow, heat flow and chemical reactions governing ore body formation. His goal was to produce a predictive modelling capability that enhances our ability to discover new ore bodies. He also contributed to the understanding of deformation processes in rocks, metamorphism, plate tectonics and geodynamics. In 2003, Hobbs was appointed as the first Chief Scientist of Western Australia and Executive Director of Office Science and Innovation. However, he resigned in 2006 over fundamental differences with the government over the direction of policy. He was reported as saying that he believed research funds should be used to support and develop mining and agriculture but the government wanted to find new technologies such as biofuels and IT to replace natural resources when they run out. Hobbs died on 29 December 2014 in Canberra at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife Robyn, whom he married in 1960, their two sons and two daughters, and eight grandchildren. He was honoured by the Geological Society of Australia with the Bruce Hobbs Medal, which is awarded every other year to an individual who has made a significant contribution to structural geology. He was also honoured by having a mineral named after him: hobbsite, a rare phosphate mineral found in Western Australia.