Australian Dictionary of Biography

Bronwyn Adams

Courtesy of the Sue Coffey and the Adams family

Bronwyn Jane Adams (1950–1999), chemical engineer, university manager, and consultant, was born on 24 August 1950 in Melbourne, eldest of three children of Hobart-born Peter Wield Adams, chemical engineer, and his Victorian-born wife Margaret Jean, née Seddon, teacher. Soon after Bron’s birth, the family moved to the north of England for a few years. On their return to Australia, she attended Melbourne Church of England Girls Grammar School (1957–67), where she received a series of government scholarships (1964, 1966–67) and was described in school reports as very intelligent and hard-working. She became secretary of the science club (1967) and matriculated in pure mathematics, applied mathematics, physics, chemistry, German, and English.

Inspired by her father, Adams had resolved to study engineering. She enrolled at Monash University (BEng Hons, 1972), where she initially ‘had to put up with wolf whistling and comments’ from male students (Bielski 1989, 85). When she graduated in April 1972, she was the first woman in Victoria to do so with a degree in chemical engineering. Despite her strong academic record, she initially struggled to secure a job, with some companies openly rejecting her application because of her gender.

In 1972 Altona Petrochemical Company Ltd (APC) engaged Adams as its first female chemical engineer. Within a few years, she had moved into production, a role she later remembered favourably: ‘I lived it 24 hours a day. I loved the autonomy. I loved the feeling of really making things happen’ (Bielski 1989, 86). In 1982 she was promoted to technical manager, in which position she led sixty experienced engineers and was responsible for all technical engineering resources. She was subsequently appointed as marketing manager (1985), human resources manager (1987), and process operations manager (1989). At the same time, she served as a member of the federal government’s National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Council (1987–89).

Adams resigned from APC around the beginning of 1990 and spent a year pursuing other interests, including reading, horticulture, and environmental conservation. In 1991 she joined the University of Melbourne’s school of chemistry as executive manager. Two years later she was appointed general manager of the university’s Institute of Education, where she worked closely with the dean of education, Kwong Lee Dow, during a period of major organisational change. She assisted with the implementation of the 1992 Maling-Taylor review of the Institute, which had encouraged the university to ‘radically overhaul’ (Painter 1994, 44) its teacher training program, leading to staffing cuts and a stronger focus on teacher professional development. In part, these changes were intended to address the declining demand for new graduate teachers and the university’s recent amalgamation with the Melbourne College of Advanced Education, which the Maling-Taylor review argued made the Institute ‘too big, unfocussed, unwieldy, and without any clear sense of direction’ (Maling and Taylor 1992, vii). She was also a member of the board of the Melbourne University Engineering Foundation.

Early in 1996 Adams left the university to establish her own consulting company, B. J. Adams & Associates. Specialising in organisational change management, especially management coaching and strategic and operational planning, she conducted a wide range of consulting assignments within diverse industries, such as chemical and automotive organisations, hospitals, research institutions, and schools. At the same time, she studied for a graduate diploma of psychological studies at Deakin University, which informed her consultancy work. Maintaining a close association with the University of Melbourne, she helped manage amalgamations with the Hawthorn Institute of Education in 1996, and with the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture the following year. In 1998 she also carried out a major review of the university’s department of mechanical and manufacturing engineering.

Warm and positive, with a deep commitment to family, friends, and colleagues, Adams ‘drew people like a magnet’ (Coffey 1999). She was driven and industrious, but also loved to read and care for her native garden. For many years she was a committed member of Amnesty International and an office holder with the United Nations Children’s Fund in Australia (1987–89). She also joined three expeditions with the Earthwatch Institute—to Coorong, South Australia (1985), Ireland (1986), and Northern Australia (1990)—and completed an advanced certificate in horticulture in 1993.

Adams died suddenly from a brain aneurysm on 5 February 1999 at Parkville, Victoria. She was survived by her parents and siblings, and the donation of her organs led to life-saving operations for three people. In 1999 the University of Melbourne established the Bronwyn Jane Adams memorial trust (later award) to provide financial support to professional staff for career development. This was a cause that she remained passionate about throughout her working life. Monash University followed in 2019 with the Bronwyn Adams and Karen Hapgood award, which recognised excellence among undergraduate women studying chemical engineering.