Bruce Kirkwood
KIRKWOOD, James Bruce Hon FIEAust FTSE AO (1925-1991)
Bruce Kirkwood was born in Lithgow, NSW on August 1, 1925, the son of ironmonger James Thompson Kirkwood and his wife Barbara Elizabeth Bruce Kirkwood, née Murray. He was educated at Parramatta Junior High School and Sydney Technical College. He completed a Diploma in Electrical Engineering in 1946 whilst working at Australian General Electric Co.
On January 24, 1947 he married Nancy Owen Chivers at Parramatta, NSW. They had one son and four daughters.
In 1949 Kirkwood was working as an engineer for the Sydney County Council, and in 1952 he became a construction engineer for the Richmond River (Electricity) County Council. He joined the Electricity Commission of NSW and by 1967 rose to the position of Power Development Engineer. He was promoted to Principal Engineer Power and Transmission Development in 1970, and Assistant Chief Engineer Power Design in 1972.
Bruce moved to Western Australia in 1973 as the Commissioner for Fuel and Power. In 1975 he was appointed inaugural Commissioner/CEO of the State Energy Commission WA which had been created by the amalgamation of the Fuel and Power Commission and the State Electricity Commission. He held this position until he resigned in 1987 to work as an energy consultant.
On May 11, 1974 he married his second wife, Inga Gatkiewicz.
In April 1979 Kirkwood travelled overseas to study nuclear power development including methods of waste disposal. He convinced the then Premier, Charles Court, that WA would ultimately need nuclear energy. He also introduced the first solar energy plant into WA.
Left to Right: D C Munro, J B Kirkwood, C T Pullan, Marwood Kingsmill and R R Booth
Source: 1977 State Energy Commission Annual Report
Bruce Kirkwood was the President of the Electrical Supply Association of Australia, and the Foundation Chairman of the National Energy Research and Demonstration Council (NERDC). He was also a member of the National Energy Advisory Committee. In 1978 he was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Bruce was awarded an Order of Australia on Australia Day, 1985, for public service, particularly for his work as the Foundation Chairman of the NERDC.
Bruce was an active member of the Institution of Engineers Australia having joined as a Student Member in 1944 and becoming a Member in 1952. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1988.
In 1990 he prepared a minority report, supporting coal, when he was a member of the Review Committee for Power Options for WA, chaired by Frank Harman. Bruce died on July 14, 1991 aged 65.
The Bruce Kirkwood Scholarship for Western Australian university students, established in 1992, was named in his honour.
References:
Broadcaster (NSW), 8.1.1947, p2
Broadcaster (NSW), 17.8.1949, p2
Canberra Times, 12.6.1979, p10
J S Legge, Who’s Who in Australia 1977, Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1977
