Ralph Owen Slatyer (16 April 1929 – 26 July 2012) was an Australian

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, and the first Chief Scientist of Australia from 1989 to 1992. He was born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

in 1929, and was educated at

Perth Modern School , motto_translation = Knowledge is Power , location = Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , coordinates = , mapframe-stroke-colour = #C60C30 , mapframe-marker-co ...

and

Wesley College, Perth Wesley College, informally known as Wesley, is an independent, day and boarding school for boys and girls (co-ed to Year 6 and boys only Years 7–12), situated in South Perth, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The college is a Uniting ...

,Blythe, Max
Interviews with Australian scientists: Professor Ralph Slatyer
,

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soc ...

, 2003. then the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

from which he graduated with Bachelor’s (1951) Master’s (1955) and Doctoral (1960) degrees in agricultural science.Papers of Ralph Slatyer (1929- )

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

. In 1951, he joined the Division of Land Research at the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

(CSIRO), becoming Associate Chief of that division in 1966. In 1967, he left the CSIRO and became a Professor of Biology at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

in Canberra.Slatyer, Ralph Owen (1929 - )
''Bright Sparcs'' (

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

), 10 September 2004. While at ANU, Slatyer travelled twice to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

where he worked as a

Visiting Professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at Duke University (1963–64) and the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

(1973–74). In the United States, he was appointed a Senior Fellow of both the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

and the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

. In March 1975 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

In 1977,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

offered the position of Australia's Ambassador to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

to Dr. Slatyer. Fraser had originally offered the post to

Sir John Kerr Sir John Robert Kerr (24 September 1914 – 24 March 1991) was an Australian barrister and judge who served as the 18th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1974 to 1977. He is primarily known for his involvement in the 1975 constit ...

, who as Governor-General had been responsible for the dismissal of

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

's government in the

1975 Australian constitutional crisis The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, also known simply as the Dismissal, culminated on 11 November 1975 with the dismissal from office of the prime minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), by Governor-General Sir J ...

, but considerable public pressure prompted Fraser to withdraw the offer to Kerr, and offer the post to Slatyer instead. Slatyer returned to Australia in 1982, after four years in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and resumed his professorship at ANU. Later that year, the Fraser government appointed him the chair of the

Australian Science and Technology Council The Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council (ASTEC) was an Australian government agency. ASTEC was established in April 1977 as the Australian Science and Technology Council to advise the Government of Australia, Australian governmen ...

(ASTEC), a body set up in 1978 by Fraser as a government "

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

" on science and technology. In Slatyer's five years as chair, ASTEC was instrumental in lobbying for tax concessions for research and development in Australia, and conducting a review of the CSIRO. In 1989, Slatyer was made the first Chief Scientist of Australia, advising the Prime Minister of the day on matters relating to science and technology. He was also largely responsible during his tenure for the establishment of Cooperative Research Centres in Australia, a program designed to facilitate collaboration between business and researchers.Cooperative Research Centres website
, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. Slatyer was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982 and in 1993 was promoted to Companion for "service to science and technology and its application to industry development".

Ralph Slatyer Medal

*2017 Mark Westoby *2018 Professor Rana Munns *2019 Professor Geoff McFadden

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slatyer, Ralph 1929 births 2012 deaths Australian ecologists Chief Scientists of Australia Companions of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science People educated at Wesley College, Perth University of Western Australia alumni Australian National University faculty People educated at Perth Modern School Permanent Delegates of Australia to UNESCO Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering

See also

Ralph Slatyer Medal

References