OBITUARY

Gavin McDonald died on 7/2/2019.

Gavin Samuel McDonald OBE FTSE was a leader and innovator who made significant contributions to Queensland industry and infrastructure. He was born in 1927 in the small Queensland town of Camooweal, just 12km east of the Northern Territory border.

In 1950 Mr McDonald graduated in Civil Engineering from the University of Queensland and begun work as an engineer with the Queensland Co-ordinator General’s Department. He worked with the Government in constructing Somerset Dam, the Tully Falls (Kareeya) Hydro- electric Project and Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge. In the early 1960s, Mr McDonald was a resident engineer with Ford, Bacon and Davis and worked on reconstruction of the Mount Isa to Townsville railway line. In 1965 he was an engineer/manager to the Gladstone Harbour Board.

Mr McDonald joined the Utah Development Company (UDC) in 1969, and participated in the early development of the port at Hay Point. He was appointed to various roles in the company, including:

• Manager of the Queensland Coal Operations in 1976

• Vice-President in 1978

• Senior Vice-President in 1981

• Executive Vice-President in 1982

• President and General Manager in 1985.

He also represented UDC in a number of industry associations. He served as:

• President of the Queensland Chamber of Mines

• Chairman of the University Minerals Industry Advisory Committee

• Deputy Chairman of the Queensland Coal Association

• Council Member of the Australian Industry Research Association

• Member of the Solar Energy Research Council, University of Queensland.

In 1988 Mr McDonald was elected a Fellow of the Academy and became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his work in the mining industry. He was a recipient of a Centenary Medal in 2001.

Mr McDonald died on 2 July 2019, aged 92. He was married to the late Laxie, and is survived by his daughters Ann and Morag, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.