CITATION
Award of Doctor of Agricultural Science honoris causa
Emeritus Professor Jock Anderson
Chancellor,
Professor Jock Anderson is a globally-influential agricultural scientist and economist who has contributed to improved food security and development opportunities for some of the world's poorest people.
Beginning his journey on a family farm at Monto in the early 1940s, Professor Anderson has made an impact throughout his career by deploying his knowledge for the practical benefit of farmers, farming communities and agribusinesses in Australia and internationally.
Entering The University of Queensland on an open scholarship in 1959, and living for five years in Emmanuel College, Professor Anderson majored in agricultural economics and attained a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with First Class Honours, followed by a Master of Agricultural Science.
After gaining private-sector experience at a Brisbane fertiliser company he pursued a PhD at the University of New England (UNE), where he stayed on as an academic.
In the 1970s, he carved out a world reputation for the analysis of agricultural risk, and co-authored the seminal book Agricultural Decision Analysis. In the same decade, he diverged from a straight university career path, taking tracks that would prove critical in his life's direction and his contributions to national and global agriculture.
He took a Visiting Professorship at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute - which helped to cement his commitment to agricultural development economics - and then worked at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, where his colleagues included Norman Borlaug, known as 'the father of the Green Revolution'.
He then became the first Chief Research Economist at what was called the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (now the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences).
Returning to UNE in 1980, he was awarded a personal chair in agricultural economics, and in the 1990s was made Emeritus Professor.
In 1989 he accepted a position at the World Bank in Washington DC where, among many themes in agricultural and rural development, he addressed improved investment in and evaluation of agricultural research in the developing world.
Professor Anderson retired from the World Bank in 2003 but continues to work with various international agencies on agricultural development issues.
Chancellor, I present to you Emeritus Professor Jock Anderson, Bachelor of Agricultural Science with First Class Honours and Master of Agricultural Science of this University, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Economics and Doctor of the University honoris causa of the University of New England, Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, for the award of Doctor of Agricultural Science honoris causa, bestowed by the Senate of The University of Queensland.