Keith Crook

Keith Alan Waterhouse Crook (born 3 August 1933) is an Australian geologist and Clarke Medalist.

Education

Crook attended Newington College (1944-1949) and the University of Sydney from whence he graduated as a Bachelor of Science in 1954 and a Master of Science in 1956. He then did a PhD at the University of New England from 1956 until 1959, followed by postdoctoral studies at the University of Melbourne and the University of Alberta, Canada, from 1959 until 1961.

Teaching career

In 1961, Crook took a position at the Australian National University teaching sedimentology and stratigraphy. He undertook research in New Guinea and Tumut, New South Wales. This research was concerned with the tectonic development of sedimentary basins. In mid-1992 Crook was appointed to a position at the University of Hawai’i as Science Program Director of the Undersea Laboratory. He returned to the ANU as a Visiting Fellow in mid-2004, where he continues his research.

Political involvement

In 1963 Crook joined the Australian Labor Party and stood as a candidate in the 1969 Federal elections.

Honours

Crook was awarded the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1983.

Publications

• Security for Australia by K.A.W. Crook (Sydney: Australian Yearly Meeting, 1970)
• The geological evolution of Australia & New Zealand by D. A. Brown, K. S. W. Campbell, K. A. W. Crook (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1968)
• Manual of sedimentary structures by C.E.B. Conybeare and K.A.W. Crook (Canberra: Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, 1968)
• Tasman orogen profile by M.J. Rickard and K.A.W. Crook (Sydney : Dept. of Mineral Resources, 1985)
• The Concorde SST and Australia - problems in open assessment of specialised technology by M.C. Anderson, K.A.W. Crook and M.O. Diesendorf (Canberra : Society for Social Responsibility in Science, 1974)