Sir Joseph Verco Medal

The title "Royal" was granted by Queen Victoria in October 1880 and the society changed its name to its present name at this time. It was incorporated in 1883. It also operates under the banner Science South Australia.

• Illustration — Royal Society of South Australia building on North Terrace, behind the SA Museum. The origins of the Royal Society are related to the South Australian Literary and Scientific Association, founded in August 1834, before the colonisation of South Australia, and whose book collection eventually formed the kernel of the State Library of South Australia. The Society had its origins in a meeting at the Stephens Place home of J. L. Young (founder of the Adelaide Educational Institution) on the evening of 10 January 1853. Members inducted to the new "Adelaide Philosophical Society" were Messrs. John Brown, John Howard Clark, Davy, Doswell, Charles Gregory Feinaigle, Gilbert, Gosse, Hamilton, D. Hammond, W. B. Hays, Jones, Kay, Mann, W. W. R. Whitridge, Williams, Wooldridge and John Lorenzo Young. J. Howard Clark was elected secretary. On 15 September rules were adopted and His Excellency the Governor Sir Henry Young was elected president, with Benjamin Herschel Babbage and Matthew Moorhouse as vice-presidents. T. D. Smeaton has also been credited with helping found the Society. Its aim was "the diffusion and advancement of the Arts and Sciences", and one of its earliest subjects of discussion was the formation of a museum showing the natural history of the Colony. At the time of its first Annual General Meeting membership had risen to 35, and in 1859 the Society was incorporated under the South Australian Institute Act. The establishment of the University of Adelaide in 1875 revitalised the Society, which had flagged for some years before. It received royal patronage, becoming the Royal Society of South Australia late in 1880, following the nomenclature used in other Australian colonies, and perhaps hoping to emulate their success. The Field Naturalists Society of South Australia was formed as a section of the Society in 1883. In 1943 Constance Eardley became the first woman to be elected to the Council of the Society.

Royal Society of South Australia presidents: • Term || Name • 1853–1854 — Sir Henry • 1855 — Benjamin • 1856–1861 — Sir Richard • 1862–1868 — Sir Dominick • 1869–1872 — James • 1877 — Sir William • 1878–1879 — Ralph • 1880–1881 — Sir Samuel • 1882 — Sir Charles • 1883 — H. T. • 1884 — Sir Horace • 1885 — Henry • 1886–1889 — Edward • 1889 — Sir Edward • 1890–1891 — Thomas • 1892–1894 — Ralph (2nd term) • 1895–1896 — Walter • 1897–1899 — William Lennox • 1900–1903 — Edward (2nd term) • 1903–1921 — Sir Joseph • 1921 — Richard Sanders • 1922–1924 — Robert Henry • 1925 — Sir Douglas • 1926 — Theodore • 1927 — Frederic Wood • 1927–1928 — Sir John • 1929–1930 — Leonard Keith • 1931 — Charles • 1932 — Thomas Harvey • 1933 — James Arthur • 1934 — John McConnell • 1935 — Thomas Draper • 1936 — Cecil • 1937 — Herbert Mathew • 1938 — James • 1939 — Henry • 1940 — Ralph W. • 1941 — Sir John (2nd term) • 1942 — Joseph Garnett • 1943 — William Ternent • 1944 — Herbert • 1945 — Sir Douglas (2nd term) • 1946 — Clarence Sherwood • 1947 — Hugh Christian • 1948 — D. C. • 1949 — Norman • 1950 — A. W. • 1951 — Bernard Charles • 1952 — H. G. • 1953 — S. B. • 1954 — J. K. • 1955 — R. V. • 1956 — C. G. • 1957 — I. M. • 1958 — Leslie Wedgwood (Lee) • 1959–1960 — T. R. N. • 1961 — R. V. (2nd term) • 1962 — Nelly Hooper • 1963 — J. T. • 1964 — Arthur Richard • 1965 — S.J. • 1966 — Brian • 1967 — Hugh Bryan Spencer • 1968 — K. R. • 1969 — F. J. • 1970 — C. B. • 1971 — W. Grant • 1972 — Helmut • 1973 — K. E. • 1974 — G. F. • 1975 — J. W. • 1976 — Charles Rowland • 1977 — Bruce Phillip • 1978 — J. J. H. • 1979 — John Kynaston • 1980 — Scoresby A. • 1981 — Warren • 1982–1983 — D. W. P. • 1984 — John S. • 1985–1986 — Mike • 1987 — T. D. • 1988–1989 — G. M. E. • 1990–1992 — N. A. • 1992–1994 — William David (Bill) • 1994–1996 — Margaret M. • 1996–1998 — T. C. R. • 1998–2000 — Martin Anthony Joseph • 2000–2002 — Neville F. • 2002–2004 — O. W. • 2004–2006 — Rob W. • 2006–2008 — Allan • 2008–2010 — John T. • 2010–2012 — Nicholas J. • 2012–2014 — Craig R. • 2014–2016 — C. Michael • 2016–2019 — John A. • 2019–2024 — Sabine • 2024–Present — Wayne

Notable members of the Royal Society of South Australia have included: • William Henry Bragg • Sir Robert William Chapman • Thomas Charles Cloud (died 1918) • Alexander William Dobbie (born 1843) • John William Hall Hullett (born 1847) • Cecil Thomas Madigan (1889–1947) • James McGeorge • Thomas Parker • Thorburn Brailsford Robertson (1884–1930) • Walter Rutt (1842–1925) • Ralph Tate • Sir Charles Todd • Carl Albert Unbehaun (1851–1924) • Robert Archibald White

There are five classes of members: • Honorary Fellows • Sustaining Fellows • Fellows • Associate Fellows • Student Fellows

The society awards: • The Verco Medal • The Publication Medal • The Royal Society of South Australia Postgraduate Student Prize • The H. G. Andrewartha Medal

The Sir Joseph Verco Medal, also known as the Verco Medal, was established in 1928, with the first medal awarded in 1929. The medal is named in honour of Joseph Verco, who was president from 1903 to 1920. • "The medal shall be awarded for distinguished scientific work published by a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia. It is the highest honour that the Society can bestow on one of its Fellows. Only those who have made a significant, outstanding contribution to their field(s) of study receive the award." Previous winners include: • Year||Name|| Source • 1966 — Arthur Richard • 2004 — Neville F. • 1962 — Herbert • 1996 — Mike • 2011 — A. • 2001 — R. V. • 1989 — Ian • 1991 — A.F. • 1930 — John McConnell • 2003 — John • 2017 — Corey • 1994 — P.F. • 2009 — M. • 1933 — John Burton • 2013 — Alan Cooper • 2015 — D. • 1992 — Patrick • 1982 — S. J. • 1960 — Hedley Herbert • 1999 — Rob • 1970 — Martin • 1979 — G. F. • 1946 — Herbert Mathew • 1978 — J. W. • 1929 — Walter • 1976 — J. T. • 1986 — W. Grant • 1987 — R. K. • 1935 — Thomas Harvey • 1990 — R. T. • 1985 — K. E. • 2018 — Mike • 2014 — John A. • 1963 — Nelly Hooper • 1945 — Cecil • 1931 — Douglas • 2012 — Brian • 1971 — Charles P. • 1983 — K. H. • 1972 — Leslie Wedgwood (Lee) • 1995 — P. A. • 1957 — Clarence Sherwood • 1998 — W. V. • 1938 — James Arthur • 2002 — J. R. • 2005 — Allan • 1967 — L. D. • 1981 — Rupert William Roye • 2008 — Scoresby A. • 2010 — Mike • 1965 — R. V. • 1961 — R. L. • 1968 — Reg • 1959 — C.G. • 1974 — P. M. • 1975 — B. P. • 1956 — Norman • 1977 — Charles Rowland • 1980 — Michael J. • 1955 — Leonard Keith • 1993 — G. F. • 2025 — Chris H.S. • 2000 — Tom • 2007 — Martin Anthony Joseph • 1988 — William David (Bill) • 1997 — Joseph Tony • 1943 — Herbert • 1969 — Hugh Bryan Spencer • 1944 — Joseph Garnett • 1973 — Helmut • 1932 — not awarded • 1934 — not awarded • 1936–1937 — not awarded • 1939–1942 — not awarded • 1947–1954 — not awarded • 1958 — not awarded • 1964 — not awarded • 1984 — not awarded • 2006 — not awarded • 2016 — not awarded • 2019–2024 — not awarded • 2025 — Jim Gehling