Royal Society of NSW Citations
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About the Citation
The Royal Society of New South Wales Citation is awarded to a Member or Fellow of the Society who has made significant contributions to the Society, but who has not been recognised in any other way. A maximum of three Citations may be awarded in any one year. The Royal Society of NSW Citation was first awarded in 2019.
Recent Citation Recipients
2024 Citation Recipient
Mr C. Hannah Hibbert
Hannah Hibbert is an accomplished archivist with formal credentials and roles as the archivist for the Australian Turf Club and, currently, the Sydney Opera House. Serving as the Honorary Archivist for the Royal Society of New South Wales from November 2019 to April 2024, Hannah played a key role in the Society’s bicentenary exhibition and online listing of the Society’s extensive archives. From 2011, Hannah volunteered countless hours investigating and documenting the material held by the Society at 121 Darlington Road, Darlington. This was a challenging task. In 2012, Hannah produced a spreadsheet that identified over 500 records and objects, with an assessment of their condition, significance, and a comprehensive set of notes where appropriate. Hannah continued to develop this over subsequent years in the period leading up to her appointment as Honorary Archivist.
2023 Citation Recipient
Mr Jason Antony MRSN
Jason Antony MRSN has been indispensable in the production of fifteen issues of the Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society since 2016 and as editor (and producer) of 28 issues of the Bulletin from 2020 to 2023. To appear, publications — both on-line and printed — require knowledge, skills, and effort. Providing all of these, Jason has contributed hugely to the improved presentation and appeal of both publications, important for the Society’s outreach, heritage, and communications. This Citation is a measure of his value and continuing importance to the Society.
2021 Citation Recipients
The Honourable John Dowd AO KC FRSN
Having previously served in prominent roles in the NSW Parliament and NSW Government, in 2002, The Honourable John Dowd AO QC FRSN was elected as Chancellor of Southern Cross University, serving until his retirement in 2014. In 2005, he was appointed Protection Ambassador for ActionAid Australia (previously AUSTCARE) and became a Director of the organisation in 2008 and President in 2009. In May 2011, Dowd launched The Justice Campaign in a show of support for human rights and justice with a focus on alleged abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere with a particular focus on David Hicks.
John Dowd provided the Royal Society of NSW with outstanding service in 2020 when he provided extensive pro bono legal advice over an extended period of time on the revision of the Society’s Rules which had not been comprehensively reviewed since 1968. This exercise was complex and extensive and involved liaison with a wide range of members of the Society. It resulted in a modernised set of Rules which will stand the Society in good stead for many years to come. This outcome could not have been achieved without his input.
Mr Hubert Regtop MRSN
Hubert Regtop MRSN is a biochemist and microbiologist with a Master of Science from the University of NSW (1973). He has a long and esteemed career as a university lecturer, research fellow, and research director of publicly listed companies, receiving multi-million dollar grants, and responsible for hospital-funded projects and partnerships with universities in the US and UK. In the mid-nineties, he was responsible for introducing standardised herbs in Australia. As a director of Trilogie Pty Ltd, established in 1994, he currently consults and lectures to major health food companies, doctors, and pharmacists in Australia, on the role of nutrition in medicine. He has authored twenty-two publications and has had twenty-three patents approved. He has been a long-standing Chair of the Society’s Southern Highlands Branch to which he has made a significant contribution over ten years maintaining an active branch with a strong events program.
Mr Richard Wilmott MRSN
Richard Wilmott MRSN is recognised for his significant service to the Society as Treasurer and Council Member over many years, especially as the pandemic began to impact business continuity and operations of the Society from early 2020.
2020 Citation Recipient
Emeritus Professor Heinrich Hora FRSN FAIP FInstP
Emeritus Professor Heinrich Hora, of the UNSW (Sydney), has served the Royal Society of New South Wales with distinction over many years. Professor Hora is a former Vice-President and Councillor of the Society and is a current member of the Fellows and Members Assessment Committee, to which he has made significant contributions over several years. In that role, he has helped ensure that the most talented and qualified individuals across many fields join the ranks of the Fellowship of the Society. In addition to his extensive service to the Society, Professor Hora is a noted theoretical physicist who has made and continues to make significant contributions to solid state physics, the optical properties of plasma, and non-linear dynamics with the application of lasers to the production of nuclear fusion energy.
2019 Citation Recipients
Dr Erik Waldemar Aslaksen FRSN
Erik W. Aslaksen FRSN is a senior, highly experienced systems engineer having worked in the US, Switzerland and Australia in fields as diverse as microwave components, power electronics, quantum electronics and communications, in areas ranging from basic research to corporate management. He has ongoing involvement in transport infrastructure and the design of industrial plant and is the author of five books (one with W.R. Belcher) and over seventy papers. His book, The Social Bond (Springer 2018) brings his engineering, systems approach to society as a whole. He will continue this theme with The Stability of Society (expected mid 2020). With these books, Dr Aslaksen continues the Enlightenment tradition of the RSNSW.
Dr Aslaksen was a member of the Council of the RSNSW from 2013 to 2019 and during that period was a tireless worker for the Society. He worked closely with The Association Specialists during the transition establishing outsourced back-office services for the Society and was instrumental in developing the relationship and ensuring that the transition was seamless. He served energetically on the Executive Committee and continues to be a highly efficient Secretary of the Fellows Assessment Committee.
Prof. E. James Kehoe FRSN
Professor E. James Kehoe FRSN is a behavioural neuroscientist whose areas of interest are associative learning, its neural substrates, and neural network models. He has worked in instructional design, researching working memory, schema formation and computer-based learning. He is a senior officer in the Australian Army Reserve, advising on character and values, and teamwork and leadership development.
Professor Kehoe was an enthusiastic member of Council from 2016 to 2018. The particular contributions that Professor Kehoe made to the renaissance of the Society were editing The Bulletin (2015–17) and chairing the Awards Committee (2016–19). Drawing on his extensive experience in newspaper publishing early in his career, he steered The Bulletin in a direction that gained a substantial readership. This publication is an important means of communicating to members and to the broader community and was an important component of publicising the progress that the Society was making across a range of activities. Professor Kehoe continued and nurtured our association with the Chief Scientist and Engineer of NSW and the yearly meeting of Deans of Science and Engineering to advise the Awards Committee.
List of Recipients of the Royal Society of NSW Citations
| Year | Recipients |
| 2019 | Dr Erik Waldemar Aslaksen FRSN Professor E.James Kehoe FRSN |
| 2020 | Emeritus Professor Heinrich Hora FRSN FAIP FInstP |
| 2021 | The Hon. John Dowd AO KC FRSN Mr Hubert Regtop MRSN Mr Richard Wilmott MRSN |
| 2023 | Mr Jason Antony MRSN |
| 2024 | Ms C. Hannah Hibbert |