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Vale Dr Phillip Playford AO

Australian Institute of Geoscientists > News > Vale Dr Phillip Playford AO

AIG regrets to inform members of the passing of Dr Phillip Playford AO.

Dr Playford passed away 12.07.2017, aged 85.  He will be remembered as an enthusiastic geologist, historian and explorer.  He was born and grew up in Western Australia and held a B.Sc.(Hons) in geology and an Honorary D.Sc. from the University of Western Australia, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.  He attended Stanford as a Fulbright Scholar.

Dr Playford had a career with both government and the oil exploration industry, wass a former Director of the Geological Survey of WA, and was well known through his many publications and lectures on the geology and history of the State. He was particularly renowned for his work on the Devonian reef complexes of the Canning Basin and geology of the Shark Bay area, and as a primary discoverer of the Zuytdorp wreck, the first Dutch wreck to be found and identified in Western Australia. His book “Carpet of Silver; The wreck of the Zuytdorp” received a Premier’s prize for literature, and another, “Voyage of discovery to Terra Australis by Willem de Vlamingh in 1696-97”, was short listed for a Premier’s award.  In 2003 he set up the Cape Inscription Committee, to restore the Lighthouse Keepers’ Quarters at Cape Inscription and hold a major international event there in 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of Dirk Hartog’s landing.

Phil was recognised as an Honorary Associate of the Geological Survey and the WA Museum, a Fellow of the Geological Society of Australia, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Among the honours he has received are the Lewis G Weeks Gold Medal of The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, a Special Commendation Award of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Gibb Maitland Medal of the Geological Society of Australia, and the Medal of the Royal Society of WA.

In 1998 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his contributions to knowledge of the geology and history of Australia.

AIG respectfully extends condolences to Dr Playford’s family and many friends.