David Milton Myers
David Milton Myers was born at Randwick, Sydney, on 5 June 1911. His father was Walter Harold Myers, Chief Electrical Engineer for the NSW Railways, so the younger Myers was almost pre-destined to follow that discipline.
He attended Shore School between 1922 and 1927 and the Sydney University – the third generation of his family to study there. After graduation he travelled to the UK for experience and on his return was offered work with the Radio Research Board at Sydney University, and this was the first step in a long career in engineering and university administration. Myers had a strong interest in computers, even in their 1930’s mechanical formats, and this led him into work o the earliest digital computers in the country. During the war years he was involved in research about magnetic mines and the use of computers for ships navigation and the aiming of naval guns. He was also involved in top secret work on radar.
After the war he returned to civilian work and in 1948 returned to Sydney University as Dean of the Faculty of Science, and decided that the emphasis would be on computing.
In 1960 he moved to Canada as Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He was largely responsible for the recruitment of Professor Harry Messel to the University of Sydney.
After six years in Canada he returned to Australia to become founding Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University in Victoria, where he remained for eleven years until retirement in 1976.
David Myers died in 1999.
For the Australian Dictionary of Bioraphy account of Myers’s life and work see:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/myers-david-milton-33608
To access an oral history interview with David Milton Myers please use this link:'
https://heritage.engineersaustralia.org.au/wiki/Oral_Histories_Sydney
