Professor John Irwin

VANMEURSA — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 05:24:02 +0000

Professor John Irwin finished up at the University of Queensland (UQ) payroll in mid 2009 however, they have been kind enough to leave him with an office, laboratory and glasshouse facilities. Professor Irwin is still supervising one PhD student, and has two other jobs in addition to the CRCNPB role. One is breeding lucerne for PGG Wrightsons Seeds, which has allowed him to carry on a life long interest. The other is Editor in Chief of Crop and Pasture Science, where they have over 400 submissions a year and publish about 120 papers.

Professor Irwin is in at work most days, and his wife wonders what has changed. He very much enjoys what he is doing, and he does not miss the 14 years he was CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Plant Protections. Although, that is not to say he is not happy to advise others on how they might run a CRC. Professor Irwin said "The CEO’s role is very demanding as I’m sure Simon will attest".

I am originally from Brisbane where my grandmother had a small dairy. Although, my parents bought a farm at Bell when I was 14, and I spent a lot of time there between the ages of 14 and 24. The thing I miss the most is the farm.The property shared a boundary with the Bunya Mountains National Park and I have the fondest memories of my time there. Dad’s sister and her husband lived next to us there and I learnt a lot from my uncle who served in Tobruk, El Alamein, Buna and Lae in WW2, and what he did not know about mixed farming and fishing wasn’t worth knowing.

Living in suburbia Brisbane is second best to the above.

My favourite or ideal holiday destination is Caloundra because we have a unit there and I intend on giving the fish a hard time when I get a chance.

In my spare time, I enjoy gardening and looking after our nearly 17 year old dog whom I regard as my second soul. We now have a six month old grandson Xavier James whom my wife (Hilary) and I adore. Hilary’s mother is 95 and lives in Stanthorpe, so we travel there to see her every couple of weeks or so.

My favourite movie is Casablanca because of Humphrey Bogart’s nonchalant way of dealing with everything. I envy people with that trait..

At the moment I am reading The Lost World of the Kalahari by Laurens Van Der Post. It is about 50 years old, but I have had an unquenchable thirst for African history Two very good books I’ve just read were The Blue Nile and The White Nile by Alan Moorehead. He was Australian, a contemporary of Alec Chisholm who wrote a lot on natural history.

If money was no option, I would not really enjoy life, I don’t think. I guess the challenge would be what to do with it, but I’m happy enough with my lot. I’d like more time to do the things and more money wouldn’t help with that..

A quality I would most like to be remembered for is being honest and trying to do a decent day’s work. I gain a lot of inspiration in watching how others get through life.The fact is that most people are honest, and you’ll see more goodwill shown to you by complete strangers than you’d imagine possible.

What I find most valuable about being a Board Member is trying to support the Executive in making the CRC an outstanding success. It’s my belief that the CRC has a very committed and supportive Board focussed on the strategic issues. I’ve learned a lot from my fellow Directors who have an incredible range of complementary skills.

CRC for Plant Biosecurity - Irwin

Professor John Irwin