Wilfred David "Mick" Borrie (2 September 1913 – 1 January 2000) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n demographer and academic.

Education

Borrie was educated at Waitaki Boys' High School,

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

, completing his education at the University of Otago and

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

.His Master's thesis ''The military defence of New Zealand, 1850–1914'', was completed at Otago in 1936. Borrie was president of the

Otago University Students' Association The Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) is the Students' Association of the University of Otago, New Zealand. OUSA was founded in 1890 to advance student interests on campus. Today, OUSA provides a combination of representation, welf ...

in 1936.

Career

Borrie moved to Sydney in 1941 where he taught Social History 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 ...

until 1947. Borrie joined 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 and ...

in 1948. Borrie founded the Department of Demography in 1952, where from 1957 he was Professor of Demography and Chair of Demography, the first such worldwide. He retired in 1978. In 1961, Borrie delivered the third in the annual series of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

lectures (renamed the Boyer Lectures) on "The Crowding World". Borrie, keen to extend population studies throughout Australia, encouraged the formation of the Australian Population Association (APA) in 1980. Borrie remained patron of the APA until he died.

Personal

Borrie was born on 2 September 1913 at Waimate,

, the son of Peter William Borrie and Isabella Doig. Borrie married Alice Hazel Muller in 1941, and had one daughter. He died on 1 January 2000.

Honours and awards

* 1950 Elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia * 1969 Officer of the Order of the British Empire for ''service to social science''. * 1975 Honorary degree of Doctor of Science,

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 pro ...

* 1979 Commander of the Order of the British Empire for ''service to social science''. * 1979 Honorary degree of Doctor of Science in Economics,

* 1996 IUSSP Laureate.

Memorials and legacy

Borrie Prize

"The W.D. Borrie Prize is awarded to the best student paper on a population-related topic".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borrie, Wilfred David 1913 births 2000 deaths Alumni of the University of Cambridge Australian demographers Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire University of Otago alumni Academic staff of the Australian National University Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand demographers