Michael Barber appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia

Emeritus Professor Barber was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia.

The recognition is for distinguished service to higher education administration, and in the field of mathematical physics, particularly statistical mechanics, as an academic and researcher, and through contributions to science policy reform.

Emeritus Professor Barber said he was definitely pleased and honoured but also humbled.

“While the award is a personal recognition, I also see it as a recognition of the many people who worked with me across my career – at the ANU, UWA, CSIRO and particularly at Flinders University and in the Australian Academy of Science,” he said.

“Together, I believe we have made a difference in many ways and I see this award as a recognition of that.”

Emeritus Professor Barber, apart from five years as a senior executive in CSIRO, spent his whole career in universities.

He was educated at the University of NSW and did a PhD at Cornell in the US before returning to Australia working at the Australian National University, UNSW and then back to the ANU as a professor of mathematics and ultimately Dean of the Faculty of Science.

In 1994, he went to the University of Western Australia as Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) and then after five years in CSIRO became Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University in Adelaide in 2008.

Mathematical physics involves the development of mathematical techniques that can be applied to solving problems in physics.

Statistical mechanics is the branch of physics that uses probability and statistical techniques to link the microscopic world of atoms and molecules to our macroscopic world.

His particular interest concerns trying to understand and predict phase transitions.

Emeritus Professor Barber said it had been over a century since some of the basic ideas of statistical mechanics were first laid down by Boltzmann and Einstein.

“At a very fundamental level some very challenging questions remain unresolved,” Emeritus Professor Barber said.

“However, statistical mechanics still solves real physical problems. Today it also enables the computational design of materials.

“It is this combination of deep questions, yet very practical applications, that has always fascinated me.”

Emeritus Professor Barber, who now lives in Port Macquarie, has been involved with science policy for more than 20 years.