The Academy was officially inaugurated in Melbourne on 24 February 1976 as the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences.
The event was attended by dignitaries, including the Commonwealth Minister for Science, the Victorian Premier and the President of the Australian Academy of Science.
At the inauguration, the Academy inducted its first Honorary Fellow, Sir Mark Oliphant – the Governor of South Australia and a Foundation Fellow.
A year later, the Academy inducted its Royal Fellow, HRH Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM GBE AC PC FRS FAA FTSE.
The post-nominal at foundation was FTS. It was changed to FTSE in 1995.
In 1987, the name was extended with the addition of Engineering.
IMAGE: Dr Whitton (left) and other eminent Academy figures meeting Academy Royal Fellow, HRH Prince Phillip, in the Academy office on 30 September 1981.Academy Presidents
Sir Ian McLennan KCMG KBE FAA FTS — 1975-1983
Sir David Zeidler AC CBE FAA FTS — 1984-1988
Sir Rupert Myers KBE AO FAA FTS — 1989-1994
Sir Arvi Parbo AC FTSE — 1995-1997
Mr M.A. (Tim) Besley AC FTSE — 1998-2002
Professor John Zillman AO FAA FTSE — 2003-2006
Professor Robin Batterham AO FREng FAA FTSE — 2007-2012
Dr Alan Finkel AO FAA FTSE — 2013-2015
Professor Peter Gray FTSE — 2015-2016
Professor Hugh Bradlow FTSE — 2016-2022
Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO FTSE FAICD — 2023-current
Foundation Fellows
Dr James Allen FTSE
Walter Bassett FTSE
Sir John Baxter FTSE
Sir Robert Blackwood FTSE
Percy Brett OBE FTSE
Dr William Butement FTSE
Dr Clifford Christian FTSE
Dr John Christian AO FTSE
Sir Lindesay Clark FTSE
Dr Frederick Clements FTSE
Sir Willis Connolly FTSE
Dr Lawrence Coombes FTSE
Dr Louis Davies FTSE
Robert Dewar FTSE
Dr Ronald Downes FTSE
Dr John Farrands FTSE
Dr Keith Farrer OBE FTSE
Professor Peter Fink FTSE
Sir George Fisher CMG FTSE
Dr Douglas Ford FTSE
Dr Harold Frith FTSE
Dr John Gladstones AM FTSE
Maj Gen Kenneth Green OBE FTSE
Dr Ernest Hallsworth FTSE
Sir John Holland AC FTSE
Sir William Hudson FTSE
Maxwell Jacobs FTSE
Professor Antoni Karbowiak AM FTSE
Dr Phillip Law AC CBE FAA FTSE
Dr Menzie Lipson FTSE
Sir James Matheson FTSE
Sir Maurice Mawby FTSE
Sir Osborne McCutcheon FTSE
Sir Ian McLennan KBE FAA FTSE
Dr Robert Muncey FTSE
Ivan Newnham FTSE
Dr Helen Newton-Turner OBE FTSE
Sir Mark Oliphant AC KBE FTSE
Professor June Olley AM FTSE
Rayden Perry AO FTSE
Dr Ralph Pickering FTSE
Professor Lindsay Pryor FTSE
Albert Seyler FTSE
Professor David Solomon AC FRS FAA FTSE
Sir Henry Somerset CBE FTSE
Lionel Stern FTSE
Dr Keith Sutherland FTSE
Michael Tracey AO FTSE
Professor Derek Tribe AO FTSE
Emeritus Professor Eric Underwood CBE AO FTSE
Sir James Vernon FTSE
Dr James Vickery OBE FTSE
Dr Robert Ward FTSE
Sir Ian Wark CBE FTSE
Eric Warrell FTSE
Irvine Watson FTSE
Dr Leonard Weickhardt FTSE
Dr Donald Weiss OBE FTSE
Dr William Whitton FTSE
Howard Wills OBE FTSE
Dr Alan Wilson FTSE
Frederick Wiltshire CBE FTSE
Denis Winston FTSE
Macdonell Woods FTSE
Professor Howard Worner CBE FTSE