Astronomer sees virus as small blip in the universe

Professor Lawrence Cram is being recognised for his contribution to higher education and astronomy. Picture: Stuart Hay

The current pandemic is just a very small disruption in human history, says astronomer Professor Lawrence Cram.

"An astronomer learns to think in terms of very long timescales," he said.

"A pandemic, like the one we've lived through, is a pretty startling thing to encounter, but a lot of earlier generations lived through things like that."

Professor Cram has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his work in tertiary education, astronomy and astrophysics.

From his humble beginnings in Nowra, he was supported by Rotary and his high school teachers to pursue his interest in science and engineering. It was his interest in mathematics and technology that led him to astronomy.

He gained a scholarship to Sydney University and at the end of his doctorate, the CSIRO gave him a fellowship to travel overseas and discover the world of international astronomy.

In the 1970s, astronomers were studying mysterious waves in the atmosphere of the sun, now known to be sunquakes. Then technology became available to study magnetism on stars.

On returning to Australia he worked on technology at CSIRO then went back to astronomy as a radio astronomer.

"I've lived through the Hubble Space Telescope. I've lived through the building of these enormous ground-based telescopes, and I've lived through the building of the Australia telescope ... and even more recently the discovery of gravitational waves.

"These are really amazing technical achievements."

Professor Cram held leadership positions including deputy vice-chancellor and vice-president at the Australian National University and pro vice-chancellor, research and research training at Charles Darwin University.

He's currently Emeritus Professor and visiting fellow at the ANU's Department of Applied Mathematics in the Research School of Physics.

Professor Cram believes Australia's universities have served its citizens well and the contraction in the sector caused by COVID-19 was inevitable in the long-term.

"The large countries that have been supporting their students to come to Australia to study all have aspirations to grow vibrant university systems themselves," he said.

"It's really hard when people lose their jobs and things like that in universities, it's very sad, but ... underlying that there's a kind of a strength and an importance to the Australian university system that's going to survive."

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