Frank Bull
BULL, Frank, OBE (1917-2003)
Frank Bull, ‘the Prof’, valued hard work, education and enquiry, modest living and joy in everyday things. A man of quiet dignity and authority he was an inspiring teacher whose lectures stirred his students to a vision of what they might achieve.
A graduate of London University, Bull led a wartime team establishing why Liberty ships were breaking up and sinking. His work saved many lives. He was appointed professor of civil engineering at the University of Adelaide (1952) and the die was cast for him to influence engineering education and practice in Australia for 50 years. Bull served on the councils of both the University of Adelaide and the SA Institute of Technology and was active in the planning and establishment of Flinders University.
In 1970 Bull was appointed to the Royal Commission into the collapse of the West Gate Bridge, Melbourne VIC. The report became a model for defining the obligations of the professional engineer.
In 1981 Bull was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to engineering and to education. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and awarded that institution’s Chapman Medal. Further awards included the Andrews Prize of the Institution of Structural Engineers UK; the Gold Medal of the (former) Northeast Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders; and a Premium Award by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects.
Frank Bull was South Australian President of Engineers Australia in 1959 and in 2006 he was added to the Engineers Australia South Australian Hall of Fame.
