“Any good farmer, when he/she leaves the land, strives to leave it in a slightly more fertile condition than when they took over its management,” says former UNE Vice-Chancellor and Emeritus Professor Alec Lazenby AO.
And UNE’s first Professor of Agronomy, now 98, is happy to now see others reap what he’s sowed.
In the 48 years since he left UNE – after serving as the VC from 1970-77 – Alec has given almost $19,000 in support of an annual prize in agronomy and student scholarships.
“My entire career is built on scholarships,” he says. “If I hadn’t of had a scholarship to attend the local grammar school (Wath-on-Dearne) and then university (University of Wales), I would never have had anything like the career I did. I have been lucky in my life and thought, while ever I was able, I would give a bit back to help other students.”
Alec grew up in Yorkshire, the son of tenant farmers, in the long shadow cast by the Great Depression. After graduating from the University of Wales, he “took a couple of degrees” from Cambridge before enjoying an illustrious academic career within nine universities on two continents. He earned an AO for service to learning in 1988 and the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in rural science and technology in 2001.
“Of all the universities I’ve worked in, I empathise most with the University of New England,” Alec says. “I’m a country boy and UNE was the first Australian university set up in the country. It fitted my philosophy, my aspirations, like a hand in a glove.
“The prize is only worth a couple of hundred dollars a year, which doesn’t go very far these days, but I hope recipients see it as a show of support. I don’t want it trumpeted around – that’s not me – it’s just a little contribution in recognition of the fact that I had a career entirely based on scholarships. And the study of agronomy in Australia is just as important today as it was 50 years ago.”
For more information on how to give to UNE go to https://www.une.edu.au/give-to-une
