At the end of 2020 we said farewell to Dr Alan Finkel AO as Australia’s Chief Scientist and welcomed former CSIRO Chief Scientist Dr Cathey Foley into the role. We are excited to see the impact that Dr Foley will no doubt bring to the auspicious role.
But for now, we say thanks to Dr Alan Finkel for representing our science community so brilliantly throughout his term.
Dr Finkel, worked as a neuroscientist, engineer and successful entrepreneur before he stepped into the role in January 2016. During his reign as Chief Scientist Dr Finkel led the development of the 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap, the 2017 Review into the National Electricity Market (“Finkel Review”), the 2018 STEM Industry Partnership Forum report, and the 2019 National Hydrogen Strategy.
His final year in the role of Chief Scientist was perhaps his most challenging. In response to Australia’s disastrous summer of bushfires in January 2020 he was appointed as Chair of the Expert Advisory Panel for the CSIRO Report on Climate and Disaster Resilience.
Then, in October 2020, at the request of the National Cabinet, he led a review of the systems and operations in all states and territories for effective COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and outbreak management, facilitating the exchange of case and outbreak management data between states and territories.
Dr Finkel’s contribution to Australian science is immense. You can read a full summary of his major achievements during his tenure here.
During Dr Finkel’s term as Chief Scientist he attended over 700 public engagements delivering speeches that conveyed his immense enthusiasm for science, mathematics, technology and innovation. Now you can read a selection of 47 of his speeches that had the greatest impact on his audiences in a new publication The Finkel Files.
The selection of speeches represents the breadth of the major tasks Dr Finkel was engaged in such as innovation, education, research and energy issues, expressing his boundless optimism about the scientific disciplines.
The volume also includes a preface by the Prime Minister, The Hon Scott Morrison MP, in which he praises the speeches as being full of well-argued, insightful ideas, and notes Dr Finkel’s love of language.
“By turns thought-provoking, inspiring and whimsical, these speeches reflect Dr Finkel’s bold aspirations for Australia and his unswerving belief in the power of science to improve lives,” wrote Mr Morrison.
The Finkel Files is free to download. You can find the PDF here.
