Background
Walsh was born in Hoddlesden, Darwen, Lancashire, educated at Darwen Grammar School and studied physics at Manchester University.
Walsh was born in Hoddlesden, Darwen, Lancashire, educated at Darwen Grammar School and studied physics at Manchester University.
Bachelor of Science, Manchester University. Master of Science in Technology, Manchester University. Doctor of Science, Manchester University, 1939.
After working for several years in British industry he moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1946 to join the newly formed Chemical Physics Section of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (then Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, now Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), where he worked until his retirement in 1977. There he developed the innovative technique of using atomic absorption spectra, rather than atomic emission and molecular absorption spectra, in spectrochemical analysis. Walsh was made a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1958 and was President of the Australian Institute of Physics from 1967 to 1968.
He was awarded the Royal Society"s Royal Medal in 1976.
The Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) Alan Walsh Medal, awarded for significant contributions in physics by an Australian industrial physicist, is named in his honour.
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Royal Society]
In 1969, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Married Audrey Dale Hutchinson, June 25, 1949. Children: Thomas Haworth, David Alan.
