Recognised as one of Australia’s most distinguished defence scientists, Dr Peter Dunn’s career spanned continents and traversed matters of global significance. He was present as a member of the scientific team at the Operation Buffalo atomic tests conducted in 1956 by the British military at Maralinga, South Australia, and made important research contributions in the fields of polymer and organometallic chemistry, before dedicating himself to the cause of chemical weapons disarmament in his later years.

As a chemical weapons Inspector for the United Nations (participant in seven missions to the Iran-Iraq border regions, including as Chief Inspector for the June 1991 UN mission into Iraq following US Operation Desert Storm) and UNSCOM Commissioner, Peter Dunn witnessed first-hand the ramifications of chemical warfare waged using toxins such as mustard gas and the nerve agent VX. He emerged from these experiences as a powerful advocate for the eradication of chemical weapons, and his efforts helped lay the groundwork for the UN Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (also known as the CWC, or Chemical Weapons Convention), which came into force in 1997.

(For a more detailed biographical note, click on Peter Dunn's name.)

Roma Dunn, the wife of Peter Dunn, provided emotional and secretarial support throughout his career.