Neil Raymond Conn, (born 17 August 1936) is an Australian economist and former

Administrator of the Northern Territory The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state gov ...

(1997-2000). Conn was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as Lord Prior of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

in 2014. He was succeeded by Sir Malcolm Ross in 2016.

Life and career

Conn studied

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

, graduating

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and later MEc. He studied for his doctorate ( PhD) at Duke University in the United States, before lecturing in economics at Sydney University from 1961 to 1975. He left the university in 1975 to work for two years as Principal Administrator with the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

in Paris, followed by four years as Deputy Secretary of the

New South Wales Treasury The Treasury of New South Wales, branded NSW Treasury, a department of the New South Wales Government, is responsible for state financial management policy and reporting, and providing advice to the government on economic conditions and issues ...

. Conn was appointed by the newly independent Northern Territory government as

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of the

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

's treasury and was the

from 17 February 1997 to 30 October 2000. Following his retirement as administrator, Conn became foundation chairman of Original IT Investments Pty Ltd, an

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

incubator. From 2001 to 2004 he was the deputy chairman and lead independent director of the publicly listed company International All Sports Ltd. Conn lives in Sydney with his wife Lesley, also a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Order (distinction), honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of Australia, Queen of Aus ...

and a Dame of the

. They have three children.

Order of St John

Conn was appointed a deputy prior of the

in Australia in 1997. He served as chairman of

St John Ambulance Australia St John Ambulance Australia (also known as St John) (SJAA) is a charitable organisation, dedicated to helping people in sickness, distress, suffering or danger. It is part of an international organisation that consists of eight priories that f ...

from 2004 to 2007. At the 2007 St John Ambulance Australia National Priory Conference, he was nominated as chancellor of the St John Priory in Australia, replacing Villis Marshall. In 2014, Conn was promoted as the Lord Prior of the Order of Saint John, becoming its most senior non-royal figure. He was succeeded by Sir Malcolm Ross in 2016.

Honours

References

Notes

External links