Neil Raymond Conn, (born 17 August 1936) is an Australian economist and former Administrator of the Northern Territory (1997-2000). Conn was appointed by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

as Lord Prior of the Order of Saint John 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 (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

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 si ...

, 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 of ...

and later MEc. He studied for his doctorate (

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

) at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

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. 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 especially ...

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 Administrator of the Northern Territory 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 . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

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 honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

and a

Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

of the Order of Saint John. They have three children.

Order of St John

Conn was appointed a deputy prior of the Order of Saint John in Australia in 1997. He served as chairman of St John Ambulance Australia from 2004 to 2007. At the 2007 St John Ambulance Australia National Priory Conference, he was nominated as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

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