Alec Lazenby (born 1927) is an academic who has held positions at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...

, the

Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

and the

Welsh Plant Breeding Station The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) is a department of Aberystwyth University within its Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, and is located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. It has a remit for teaching, research ...

. Lazenby served as the

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the University of New England from 1970 to 1977, and the University of Tasmania from 1982 to 1991.

Early life and career

Lazenby was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and attended Wath Grammar School before graduating from the

and both lectured and demonstrated there before moving to

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia.

University of New England

Lazenby was appointed the foundation Professor of Agronomy and head of the Department of Agronomy in February 1965 before being appointed the university's third Vice-Chancellor in 1970. He was appointed an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

when his term as Vice-Chancellor ended in 1977. During his time as Vice-Chancellor, Lazenby lived in the Vice-Chancellor's official residence "

Trevenna Trevenna is the residence of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. The house was built in 1892 and is located off Trevenna Road on the western side of the main campus in Armidale. There is ...

". In 1971, he strongly supported an amalgamation of the University of New England and the

Armidale Teachers' College The Armidale Teachers' College is a heritage-listed former tertiary college at 122–132 Mossman Street, Armidale, Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the New South Wales Government Architect and built from ...

. In June 1971 he asked the Academic Planning Committee to comment on the possible amalgamation because he believed "Armidale was too small for two independent tertiary institutions." However the suggested amalgamation was opposed by the staff of both institutions and was eventually overturned by the Hawke Government when it took office in 1983.

Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research

Lazenby moved back to the UK in 1977 and took up a position as the Director of the

Return to Australia

Lazenby returned to Australia in early 1982 and was appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the

on 21 October 1982 replacing David Caro. He held the position until 1991. He was replaced as the Vice-Chancellor at beginning of February 1991 by Alan Gilbert. In 1985 then Federal Minister for Primary Industry

John Kerin John Charles Kerin (born 21 November 1937) is an Australian economist and former Labor Party politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1993. He held a number of senior ministerial roles in ...

asked him to investigate the introduction of

plant breeders' rights Plant breeders' rights (PBR), also known as plant variety rights (PVR), are rights granted to the breeder of a new variety of plant that give the breeder exclusive control over the propagating material (including seed, cuttings, divisions, tissue ...

legislation, which was enacted in 1987.

Honours and recognition

Lazenby was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1988 New Year's Day Honours; the citation was "for service to learning". Lazenby also received the Centenary Medal in the 2001 New Year's Honours "for service to Australian society in rural science and technology".

Bibliography

Lazenby has written and co-written a number of books on the topics such as agriculture and agronomy. The following bibliography contains some of Lazenby's writings: * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Alec Lazenby
in the

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

catalog
Alec Lazenby
in the

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

catalogue {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazenby, Alec 1927 births University of New England (Australia) faculty University of Tasmania faculty Alumni of the University of Cambridge People educated at Wath Academy Living people Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal English emigrants to Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering