South Australian Jack Becker's name erased from Canberra dome despite biggest gift to academy of science

Becker House, honouring the financial support by South Australian entrepeneur Jack Becker, was the former name of the iconic Australian Academy of Science dome in Canberra.

One of Canberra’s most iconic buildings, the Australian Academy of Science dome, previously carried the name of South Australian entrepreneur Jack Becker. At a time when it was struggling to repay the debt of building the dome, completed in 1959, Becker gave £200,000 to the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra in 1961-62.

cademy president Professor T. M. Cherry saluted Becker’s donation as “substantially greater than any single gift that a scientific academy had ever received, including the Royal Society of London”.

Becker became involved with the academy through the chain of being a Timor Oil company director with R. Dodson, a client of Melbourne solicitor Gavin Laver, friend of academy treasurer Dr I.W. Wark.

After meeting Wark in Adelaide, Becker said he appreciated the academy’s work and science, especially after experiments on improving merino sheep and other research by his Smithfield Pastoral Co. and the work by CSIRO’s Dr David Riemann on Becker’s Keith property that transformed the Ninety Mile Desert with soil trace elements.

Becker’s first £100,000 gift to the academy was to promote its scientific interests with senior fellowships, symposia, lectures and exchange visits. But, with banks wanting repayment of debt on the academy’s Canberra conference dome,

Becker gave another £100,000. Eventually, $185,000 from the Becker Fund went to the building cost. In appreciation, the building was called Becker House. Fellows of the Academy supported the special election of Becker to the fellowship.

In 2000, the dome was updated, supported by $1 million from academy fellow Professor John Shine and $525,000 from the National Council for the Centenary of Federation. The building's name became Shine Dome.