Sir Colin Syme AK (1903-1986) was chairman of BHP from 1952 to1971. Born in Perth, he attended Scotch College in Claremont, the universities of Perth and Melbourne and the University of New South Wales before becoming a solicitor in the Melbourne firm of Hedderwick, Fookes and Alston in 1923. He was a partner in that firm from 1928 until 1966, becoming a director of BHP in 1937. His BHP directorships included Tubemakers of Australia, Australian Iron and Steel, Rylands Bros, the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, and the Private Investment Company for Asia. Outside BHP he was a director of companies including Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand, Elder Smith Goldsborough Mort, and the International Iron and Steel Institute. He was Chairman of the Melbourne Steamship Co and the Nuffield Foundation Australian Advisory Committee, and President of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
