R. E. Jeffery joined the Society (then the Sydney Technical College Chemical Society) in 1921 and retained his membership through to his death in 1966.
He was active in the affairs of the Society for many years, being a member of the Publications Committee for the Journal and Proceedings of the Sydney Technical College Chemical Society from 1927 to 1929. He was President in 1929.
Upon his death, the University of New South Wales Chemical Society was generously bequeathed with funds by him to apply to the advancement of knowledge, preferably in the field of food or biological chemistry. The Jeffery Lectureship has been established to honour his wish.
A complete list of the previous Jeffery Lecturers is given below.
1981 R.G. Buttery, U.S. Department of Agriculture
1983 J.E. Casida, University of California, Berkeley
1985 N.A. Porter, Duke University, North Carolina
1987 I.C.M. Dea, Food Research Association, Surrey, U.K.
1989 G. M. Blackburn, Sheffield University
1991 B.O. Fraser-Reid, Duke University, North Carolina
1993 L.N. Mander, Australian National University
1995 P. Dowd, University of Pittsburgh
1998 Y. Thebtaranonth, Mahidol University, Thailand
2003 W. B. Tolman, University of Minnesota
2010 G. N. Tew, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
2015 J. Gerrard, The University of Canterbury
2018 J. L. Martin, Griffith University
R. E. Jeffery