Lunch with Professor John Webb OAM

OUSV Speaker Lunch Thursday 29 February 2024

The guest speaker for our February Lunch is Professor John Webb OAM

The title of John’s presentation is

Science Diplomacy

The ideas of science diplomacy are receiving increasing attention these days, often associated with technology and innovation diplomacy, as co-operation and competition jostle for prominence. The presentation will highlight these, with particular attention to the collaborations between Australia and India. The key role of chemistry in the development of international treaties such as the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Montreal Protocol on Ozone will also be considered.

Lunch is at the Kelvin Club (www.kelvinclub.com) where we meet from 12-30 pm onwards.  A two- course meal, including a glass of wine, is at 1 pm and the formal part of the proceedings will conclude around 2-15 pm.

OUSV and CSV members and guests are especially welcome.  

The price for OUSV and CSV members and guests is $67.50. For non-members the price is $75.

John is a chemist with a B.Sc. Hons from Sydney University and a Ph.D. at California Institute of Technology. His academic career was spent mostly at Murdoch University in Perth WA, a location convenient for establishing research networks in Asia, especially SE Asia, leading to the award of the OAM. A period of study leave at Oxford with Prof RJP Williams, recognised as a father of bioinorganic chemistry, kickstarted a research program at Murdoch on biominerals. Later, John moved into science diplomacy with positions at UNESCO (Paris) and, for 2005-2008, at the Australian High Commissions in New Delhi and Islamabad. He is now an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Business and Law at Swinburne University of Technology.

Queries: please contact Richard Thwaites on +61 (0) 407 862 367 or richard.thwaites@bigpond.com