OBITUARY

Dr Jim Peacock died on 22/10/2025.

A botanist and plant geneticist, Dr Jim Peacock AC FTSE FRS FAA was elected to the Academy in 1988 for his contributions to plant science and Australian innovation. 

As an ATSE Fellow, he was a member of the ATSE Council – the Academy’s governing body at the time – from 1998 to 2001. A member of the ACT Division and the Agriculture & Food Forum, he was involved in putting forward many Fellowship nominations over the years, as well as taking part in numerous ATSE events.

A globally recognised scientist, he served on the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, and from 2006 to 2008, as Chief Scientist of Australia. He was also joint recipient of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in 2000. 

Acknowledged around Australia and the world for his contributions to plant science, molecular biology and advocacy for science, he served as President of the Australian Academy of Science from 2002 to 2006.

Educated at the University of Sydney where he studied botany and zoology and gained a PhD in genetics. He followed this with post doctoral positions in genetics at the University of Oregon in Eugene and molecular biology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, before returning to Australia to work with the CSIRO. Dr. Peacock is a Member of the Prime Minister?s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) and the National Innovation Council and has served on the Australian Research Council (ARC) Grants Committee, the Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council (ASTEC) and the Academy of Science's Committee on Recombinant DNA Molecules (ASCORD). In 2000, Dr. Peacock was joint recipient of the inaugural Prime Minister?s Prize for Science. Dr. Peacock has had a distinguished career in science and has received many honours. He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1994, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in Mar 1982,a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, a Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences, Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, and a Foundation Member Academia Bibliotheca Alexandrinae. He was appointed Chief Scientist of Australia on a part-time basis in March 2006, and his term concluded on 31 August 2008.