http://www.cooganresearchgroup.com/crg/index.htm 19 July 2009 Obituary of Clive Keith Coogan _____________________________________________________________________ (extracted from "Melbourne Herald-Sun", 20 DEC 2005, PAGE ?): COOGAN - Clive Keith, AM PhD FTSC FRSA FAIP FRSV. Passed away peacefully in his sleep on Dec. 17, 2005. Loving father of Brian... _____________________________________________________________________ (extracted from "Sydney Morning Herald", 20 DEC 2005, PAGE ?): COOGAN, Clive Keith. AM, PhD, FTSC, FRSA, FAIP, FRSV. Passed away peacefully in his sleep, on December 17, 2005. Loving father of Brian, Karina and Justin, husband of Annie, and much beloved brother of Madge (Thornton). The funeral service for Dr. CLIVE KEITH COOGAN will be held at St. Mark's Anglican Church, cnr Burke and Canterbury Roads, Camberwell, on Friday (December 23, 2005), commencing at 11. a.m. A private cremation will follow. No flowers by request. In lieu donations to the Salvation Army would be appreciated. Envelopes available at the church. www.clivecoogan.com http://notices.smh.com.au/funeral/11030/notice.aspx _____________________________________________________________________ (extracted from "?", ?, PAGE ?): COGAN Clive Keith [sic] 21 April 1925 - 17 December 2005 By - J Willis and M Thornton Dr. Clive Coogan, who played a big role in the development of the Australian scientific instrument industry and in helping to establish export markets, particularly in South-East Asia, has died in a Camberwell East nursing home following a series of strokes. Coogan was born in Sydney but spent his childhood in country NSW, where his father was a bank manager. Later, he moved back to Sydney and attended Fort Street Boys’ High School, where he excelled in English, mathematics and physics. He was also a good athlete, and played royal tennis. Clive delighted in recalling that a teacher at Fort Street could recite the names of its many famous sons who went on to become judges, knights of the realm, leading politicians and captains in industry, whilst another teacher took equal delight in recalling the names of ex-students who had become burglars, confidence tricksters and famous for far less salutary occupations. Coogan entered the faculty of engineering at Sydney University but soon transferred to science, where he graduated in 1947 with first- class honours in physics. A CSIRO senior studentship took him to the University of Bristol, where he obtained his PhD. Returning to Australia in 1951 he joined the chemical physics section of the CSIRO division of industrial chemistry in Melbourne, where he continued research in solid-state physics, especially the optical and electrical properties of zinc sulphide. He showed a strong inventive streak, and developed several scientific instruments for use in his work and was encouraged by the section leader, Dr A L G Rees. A later invention by Coogan and instrument for measuring the turbidity of liquids, was manufactured in Australia and found numerous applications. In 1958 chemical physics became a division, with Coogan as leader of its solid state chemistry section. He spent 1959-61 as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois in the US, and worked on the diffusion of hydrogen in titanium. This work was taken up by NASA in its search for a rocket propellant fuel, and was later tested for possible use in the development of a car propulsion fuel. In 1978 Rees retired and Dr A Mathieson was appointed acting chief of division, with Coogan and the writer as assistant chiefs; Coogan took responsibility for relations with industry. In 1980, following the appointment of Dr L Chadderton as chief, Coogan was seconded as an executive scientist to the CSIRO Bureau of Scientific Services so that his talents could be used more widely. His key contribution to the Australian economy flowed over the next 10 years. A growing scientific instrument industry had developed in Australia, and Coogan set about helping to establish a viable export market. He was founder and first chairman of the Australian Scientific Industry Association, and from 1980 onwards made several overseas visits, particularly to China, leading trade missions, organizing instrument exhibitions, and promoting sales. He was involved in floating a number of companies to raise ‘seed’ money for the development and marketing of novel scientific instruments. Under his chairmanship, and the involvement of Rotary and, later, the electrical manufacturer Siemens, ASIO developed a summer science school program to provide secondary school students with an introduction to the world of science. Coogan was deeply involved in various post-secondary educational bodies. He was a member of the council at Chisholm Institute of Technology from 1983-90, and president from 1985-87. When CIT folded into Monash University in 1990, he served on the university’s council. In the 1970s and ‘80s he was also active in the affairs of the Anglican Church, serving as churchwarden of St Mark’s Camberwell, and representative on the Melbourne diocesan synod. In 1978 he was founder and general manager of WORCO, a cooperative to help unemployed young people establish self-supporting businesses. Coogan had a strong sense of justice and on several occasions took up the cudgels on behalf of individual who he felt had been unjustly treated, even though this might involve confronting a vice- chancellor or an archbishop. In the late 1960s he was honorary advocate for the CSIRO Officers’ Association in an protracted arbitration case to improve the salary scales of CSIRO chiefs of division. This finally involved him in leading a successful appeal to a full bench of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He received many honours, including election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. In 1986 he was made a member of the Order of Australia ‘for services to science and to the CSIRO’, and in 2003 was awarded a Centenary Medal. Coogan was a charming and sociable man, a bon viveur and raconteur, with a tremendously wide range of interest and with friends in many walks of life. Tragically, after a major stroke in 1993 he was severely incapacitated, and attended a rehabilitation centre. Here he was not content to be just a spectator. Small woodwork projects were part of the program, and Clive made a series of jigs that made these tasks easier for the other patients. In his later years, though he was immobile and unable to speak, he long retained an interest in the people and activities with which he had been involved during his very varied and active career. He is survived by his former wife Annie, children Brian, Karina and Justin, and sister Madge (Thornton). http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=1030 _____________________________________________________________________