Donald McLean Lamberton (29 July 1927 – 28 November 2014) was an Australian economist. His work focused on

information economics Information economics or the economics of information is the branch of microeconomics that studies how information and information systems affect an economy and economic decisions. One application considers information embodied in certain types ...

Early life and career

Lamberton grew up in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Homeschooled until the age of eleven,Macdonald, Stuart.
Don Lamberton 1927–2014
" Prometheus 32.3 (2014): 223-225 he went to work at the

Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia. It was established in 1817 in Sydney. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania ...

in May 1942, aged just fourteen years.Lodewijks, John Prof (2007)
Professor of Foresight; An Interview with Donald Lamberton
" Journal of Economic and Social Policy: Vol. 11: Iss. 2, Article 5. He earned a degree in economics from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1949. He then worked for the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' as a financial journalist and the Sydney Stock Exchange in research and statistics.

Academic positions

In 1953, Lamberton joined the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

as a lecturer. With funding from the Australian War Services Canteen Trust Fund, he moved to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1957 to read for his PhD at

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

. His thesis "The Theory of Profit" was accepted in 1962 and published in 1965. Concurrently, he was a senior lecturer (later, associate professor) at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

from 1960 to 1969. In 1966 he visited the United States as a Fulbright scholar at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

until 1967. From 1969 to 1972, Lamberton was a professor at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

and then, from 1973 to 1989, a chair in economics at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. From 1989 to 1992 he worked in Melbourne as co-director of the Centre for International Research on Communications and Information Technologies. Lamberton was at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

from 1992 to 2004, in their Urban Research Programme and Public Policy Programme. In 2005 he moved to the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

Writing

He authored over 20 books, 60 book chapters, 40 articles, and 30 reports, including:

Books edited

* ''Industrial Economies'', 1971 * ''Economics of Information and Knowledge'', Penguin, 1971 * ''The Information Revolution'', 1974 * ''The Trouble with Technology'' (with Ken Boulding), 1983 * ''The Economics of Language'', 2002

Journals edited

In 1983 he founded ''

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

'' and was general editor for most of the rest of his life.

Writing about his work

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

honoring his work was published in 1999. In December 2015, the journal ''Prometheus'' published a special issue of papers written by his students.Prometheus. December 2015, Vol. 33 Issue 4. .

Awards

In 2006 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for "service to economics, as a leading academic and researcher in the field of information economics through the multidisciplinary study of the impact of technology, information and society on economic development".New Adjunct Professor appointed to the Centre
,

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamberton, Donald Officers of the Order of Australia Australian economists Information economists Australian people of Scottish descent 1927 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Merton College, Oxford