Hugh Ennor

Sir Arnold Hughes "Hugh" Ennor CBE (10 October 1912 – 14 October 1977) was a senior Australian public servant and policymaker.

Sir Hugh Ennor CBE
Ennor (right) and colleagues studying plans for the John Curtin School of Medical Research, 1950
Secretary of the Department of Education and Science
In office 1 February 1967 – 19 December 1972
Acting Secretary of the Department of Education
In office 20 December 1972 – 16 January 1973
Secretary of the Department of Science
In office 19 December 1972 – 6 June 1975
Secretary of the Department of Science and Consumer Affairs
In office 6 June 1975 – 22 December 1975
Secretary of the Department of Science
In office 22 December 1975 – 7 October 1977
Personal details
Born	Arnold Hughes Ennor 10 October 1912 Gardenvale, Melbourne
Died	14 October 1977(1977-10-14) (aged 65) Canberra
Nationality	Australian
Spouse	Violet Phyllis Isobel Argall (m. 1939)[1]
Children	One son and one daughter[1]
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	Public servant

Life and career

Ennor was born in Melbourne, the son of a joiner.^[2] For schooling, he attended a local Catholic school, O'Neill College in Elsternwick, Victoria and later Melbourne Technical College.^[1] He graduated from the University of Melbourne as a Bachelor of Science with first class honours in 1938, achieving a Master of Science in 1939 and a Doctor of Science in 1944 at the same university.^[2]

During the Second World War, Ennor was engaged by Australian Chemical Warfare Research in top secret trials in northern Queensland of mustard gas protective clothing and other counter-measures. He and fellow-biochemist J. W. Legge designed and oversaw the construction of a 100 cubic metre (3,500 cu ft) stainless-steel temperature-controlled gas chamber as part of these experiments.^[3]

Ennor was the first professor appointed by the new Australian National University in Canberra in 1948.^[2]

In February 1967, Ennor was appointed Secretary of the Australian Government Department of Education and Science.^[4][5] He served as secretary of the science department for over ten years, in the Department of Science (I),^[6] the Department of Science and Consumer Affairs,^[7] and the Department of Science (II).^[8]

He also served for a short period as Acting Secretary of the Department of Education when the Whitlam government split the Department of Education and Science into two.^[9]

Hugh Ennor died on 14 October 1977 in Canberra, aged 65.^[10] His death was just a week after his retirement from the Australian Public Service.^[11]

Awards

Ennor was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 1963 as a professor of biochemistry at the Australian National University.^[12] In June 1965 he was made a Knight Bachelor.^[13]

See also

• Keen as Mustard (film), documentary about the mustard gas experiments