Leslie Denis Swindale

Leslie Denis Swindale
Born (1928-03-16) 16 March 1928
Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation Soil scientist
Agriculturalist
Spouse(s) Delle Sprinza Natelson
Children Two sons and a daughter
Parent(s) Ernest Swindale
Anne Walder
Awards Padma Bhushan

Leslie Denis Swindale (born 16 March 1928) is a New Zealand-born soil scientist, agriculturist, writer and a former chairman of the Department Agronomy and Soil Science of the University of Hawaii. He is the author of several books on soil and agricultural sciences[1] and was a part of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the Food and Agriculture Organization.[2] He is a Fellow of New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, American Society of Agronomy and a foreign fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences.[3] The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1991, for his contributions to science,[4] making him one of the few non-Indians to receive the award.[5]

Biography

Born to Anne Walder and Ernest Swindale on 16 March 1928 at Wellington, Leslie Denis Swindale completed his graduate (1948) and master's (1950) degrees at Victoria University, Wellington before securing a doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1955. He started his career as a physical chemist at the New Zealand Soil Bureau and held several notable positions which included Director of New Zealand Pottery and Ceramics Research Association, Lower Hutt (1960-1963), Professor and chairman of department of agronomy and soil science at the University of Hawaii (1963-1968), Chief of Soil Resources Development and Consultant with the Food and Agriculture Organization (1968-1970), Associate director of Hawaii Agricultural Experimental Station, Honolulu (1970-1976), Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, India (1977–1989) before becoming the Chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research at Patancheru (1989-1990) He is the author of several books on soil and agricultural sciences[1] and was a part of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the Food and Agriculture Organization.[2] He is a Fellow of New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, American Society of Agronomy and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences[3] and a member of institutions and societies such as Society for International Development, Soil Science Society of America, International Union of Soil Sciences, New Zealand Society of Soil Science, Royal Society of New Zealand, New Zealand Geological Society, Indian Society of Soil Science, Clay Mineral Society of India and Gamma Sigma Delta. In 1991, he became one of among the few foreign nationals to be honored by the Government of India, when he was selected for the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, for his contributions to science.[5]

Swindale is married to Delle Sprinza Natelson and the couple have two sons and a daughter.

Selected bibliography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Author profile". OCLC Classify. 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Leslie Swindale interviewed by S. Viera about fertilizers in the Freedom from Hunger Campaign oral history project". Libraries Australia. 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 "NAAS Fellowship". National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Padma Awards". Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Now I belong to the great Indian family". Times of India. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
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