Peacock, William James (1937 - )

Summary

Jim Peacock was Australia's Chief Scientist from 2006 to 2008, and Chief of the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry from 1978 to 2003. He has made significant contributions to science policy and administration, science education, original research and promoting the application of basic research to industry, particularly agriculture. His research interests include molecular plant science, genomics and gene technology. Under his leadership the Division became a world leader in molecular plant biology. Achievements include the first isolation of a plant transposable element, the isolation of stress protection genes and the demonstration of genetic and epigenetic controls of flowering. Peacock was instrumental in the foundation of several agricultural companies and joint ventures including the Gene Shears Company. Peacock has been involved in science policy advisory committees nationally and internationally. Between 2002 and 2006 he was President of the Australian Academy of Science. His awards include the Prime Minister's Prize for Science.

Details

Peacock was awarded the following CSIRO medals:

1989 - CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement for outstanding research leadership of the Division:

2005 - CSIRO Medal for Lifetime Achievement for his tremendous impact on CSIROand science in Australia over the last forty years through his originalresearch, science policy and administration, science education andinteractions with industry.

Chronology

1958

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Sydney

1961 - 1962

Award - Linnean Macleay Fellowship (Botany), for study at the University of Sydney

1962

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Sydney

1963

Career position - Post-doctoral Fellow, CSIRO

1963 - 1965

Career position - Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Oregon, U.S.A.

1964 - 1965

Career position - Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Oregon, U.S.A.

1965

Career position - Research Consultant, Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, U.S.A.

1967

Award - Edgeworth David Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1969 - 1970

Career position - Adjunct Professor of Biology, University of California, San Diego, U.S.A.

1969 - 1973

Career position - Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

1970 - 1971

Career position - Visiting Professor of Biochemistry, Stanford University, California, U.S.A.

1973 - 1977

Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

1976

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1977

Career position - Visiting Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

1977 - 1978

Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

1978

Award - Lemberg Medal and Oration, Australian Biochemical Society

1978 - 2003

Career position - Chief, CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

1979 - 1980

Career position - Chairman, Sectional Committee VII, Australian Academy of Science

1979 - 1984

Career position - Member, Editorial Advisory Committee, Australian Journals of Biological Sciences

1982

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1984

Award - 10th Anniversary Award, International Board of Plant Genetic Resources

1984

Career position - Member, Science and Industry Forum, Australian Academy of Science

1984 - 1988

Career position - Member, Sectional Committee V, Australian Academy of Science

1985

Award - University of Georgia Bicentennial Medal

1985 - 1988

Career position - Member, Board of Directors, International Society for Plant Molecular Biology

1986 - 1989

Career position - Chairman, Executive and Program Committees, International Board for Plant Genetic Resources

1987

Award - N.I. Vavilov Medal, Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, St Petersburg, Russia

1987 - 1989

Career position - Chairman, Board of Trustees, International Board of Genetic Resources

1988

Award - BHP Bicentennial Prize for Pursuit of Excellence in Science and Technology

1988

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1989

Award - Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lectureship, Australian Academy of Science

1989

Award - CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement

1989 - 1996

Career position - Fellow, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science

1989 - 1998

Career position - Director, Gene Shears Pty Ltd

1990 -

Career position - Foreign Fellow, Indian National Science Academy

1990 -

Career position - Foreign Associate, US National Academy of Sciences

1990

Career position - Adjunct Professor/Co-Director, Plant science Centre, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

1991 - 1998

Career position - Co-Director, Plant Science Cooperative Research Centre, Australian National University

1991 - 1998

Career position - Chairman, Gene Shears Board Scientific Subcommittee

1992 - 1995

Career position - Academic Advisor, Laboratory of Plant Cell & Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing

1993 - 2003

Career position - Board Member, CRC for Sustainable Cotton Production (later Australian Cotton CRC)

1994

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - For service to science, particularly in the field of molecular biology and to science education

1995

Career position - Member, Advisory Committee, 10th International Biotechnology Symposium, Sydney

1995 - 1998

Career position - Member of Council, Australian Academy of Science

1995 - 1998

Career position - Chairman, Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Science

1996

Award - DSc honoris causa, Charles Sturt University

1997 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology

1998 -

Career position - Member, International Committee, Australian Academy of Science

1998 - 2001

Career position - Council Member, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering

1998 - 2002

Career position - Member, Advisory Committee on Genetic Experimentation and Biotechnology, International Council for Science

1999

Award - Farrer Memorial Medal, Farrer Memorial Trust

2000

Award - Prime Minister's Prize for Science (jointly with Elizabeth Dennis), Commonwealth of Australia

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - for pioneering research on plant development especially the discovery of the Flowering Switch Gene

2002

Award - Doctor of Agricultural Science (DAgSc), honoris causa, University of Sydney

2002 - 2006

Career position - Director, Australian Foundation for Science (Australian Academy of Science)

2002 - 2006

Career position - President, Australian Academy of Science

2003

Career position - Board Member, CRC for Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology

2004 -

Career position - CSIRO Fellow and Chair of the Office of the Chief Executive Science Team

2004

Award - DSc honoris causa, University of Ghent, Belgium

2004 - 2006

Career position - Member, Eminent Scientists Group, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Import Risk Analyses)

2005 -

Career position - Chairman, National Research Priorities Standing Committee

2005

Award - CSIRO Medal for Lifetime Achievement, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation

2006 - 2008

Career position - Chief Scientist, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

2006 - 2008

Career position - Executive Officer, Prime minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC)

2007 - 2008

Career position - Member, Advisory Board, Higher Education Endowment Fund, Australian Government

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation, Achievements and challenges for Australian science: Distinguished Lecture Series 1993 (Parkville (Vic.): Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation, 1993), 55 pp. Details
• Nossal, Gus [and others], Achievements and challenges for Australian science (Parkville, Vic.: Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation, 1993), 55 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Peacock, Jim, Barlow, Bryan and Carolin, Roger, 'Spencer Smith-White 1909-1998', Historical Records of Australian Science, 22 (2) (2011), 277-90, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR11007. Details
• Peacock, W. J.; and McCann, D., 'Michael James Denham White 1910-1983', Historical Records of Australian Science, 10 (2) (1994), 143-161. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9941020143. Details
• Peacock, William James and McCann, D., 'Michael James Denham White, 20 August 1910 - 16 December 1983, elected FRS 1961', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 40 (1994), 403-19. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1994.0047. Details

Resources

• 'Peacock, William James (1937 - )', Recipients [of the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science, 2000 - 2017], Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, 2017, https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20171113014421/http://www.science.gov.au/community/PrimeMinistersPrizesforScience/Recipients/2000/Pages/Dr-Jim-Peacock-and-Dr-Liz-Dennis.aspx. Details
• 'Peacock, W J (1937-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-619385. Details

Resource Sections

• Peacock, W. J. and Dennis, Elizabeth S., 'Frankel, Sir Otto Herzberg (1900 - 1998), plant scientist', in Australian dictionary of biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, Canberra, 2023, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/frankel-sir-otto-herzberg-32204. Details
• Ward, C., 'William James (Jim) Peacock', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Peacock-William-James. Details

See also

• Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science, 2022, https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/macfarlane-burnet-medal-and-lecture. Details
• McCann, D. A.; and Batterham, P., 'Australian Genetics: a Brief History', Genetica, 90 (2-3) (1993), 81-114. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01435033. Details
• Ward, Colin, 'CSIRO Entrepreneurship Award', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2013, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/csiro-entrepreneurship-award/. Details
• Ward, Colin, 'CSIRO Medal for Lifetime Achievement', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2022, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/csiro-medal-for-lifetime-achievement/. Details