Sir Roland Wilson (7 April 190425 October 1996) was a senior Australian public servant and economist.

Life and career

Wilson was born in

Ulverstone, Tasmania Ulverstone is a town on the northern coast of Tasmania, Australia on the mouth of the River Leven, on Bass Strait. It is on the Bass Highway, west of Devonport and east of Penguin. As of June 2021 Ulverstone had an urban population of 11, ...

on 7 April 1904. He studied at

Devonport High School Devonport High School is a government co-educational comprehensive junior secondary school located in , Tasmania, Australia. The school caters for approximately 500 students from Years 7 to 12. The school is administered by the Tasmanian Dep ...

, where he won a scholarship to take an economics course at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

. He became a Rhodes Scholar in 1925, the first Tasmanian from a state school to win the scholarship. The Rhodes Scholarship took him 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 ...

where he studied for the degree of doctor of philosophy. Wilson became Commonwealth Statistician in 1936. Wilson was appointed

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the

Department of Labour and National Service The Department of Labour and National Service was an Government of Australia, Australian government department that existed between October 1940 and December 1972. Scope Information about the department's functions and government fund ...

as a war-time secondment in 1940. In 1946, after World War II, Wilson resumed his position as Commonwealth Statistician until the Menzies government made him Secretary of the Department of the Treasury in 1951. On leaving Treasury in 1966, Wilson was the Chairman of

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

until 1972, and the Chairman of the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

until 1975.

Awards and honours

He was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1941 and knighted in 1955. The Sir Roland Wilson Building 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 ...

is named after Wilson, in recognition of his significant contribution to public policy and administration in Australia and in many international forums. The Sir Roland Wilson Foundation at the Australian National University was established by a donation from the Wilson family in 1998, and offers scholarships to Australian public servants to undertake postgraduate studies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Roland 1904 births 1996 deaths Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Knights Bachelor Australian statisticians People from Ulverstone, Tasmania Secretaries of the Department of the Treasury of Australia 20th-century Australian mathematicians Australian Rhodes Scholars Commonwealth Bank people