Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Longworth, John W.

English

Research Papers in Economics

The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 49, 239–241
Obituary
Vale ‘KO’ Campbell
Keith Oliver Campbell, or ‘KO’ as he was affectionately known, passed away on
21 April 2004, aged 83.
When the University of Sydney appointed Keith Campbell as a Reader in Agricul-
tural Economics in 1951, he became the ﬁrst full-time Australian academic in his ﬁeld.
Keith went on to carve out an enviable personal career as an outstanding academic
and academic administrator. However, and perhaps more importantly, he also played
a major role in developing his discipline – and the associated profession of agricultural
economics – in Australia.
Keith graduated from the University of Sydney with a 1st class Honours in Agri-
cultural Science in 1943 and went to work in the NSW Department of Agriculture
as an Economics Research Ofﬁcer, a position he held until 1950 when he was made
a Principal Economics Research Ofﬁcer. On leave from the NSW Department from
1946 to 1949, he studied at the University of Chicago (for an MA and a PhD) and at
Harvard (for an MPA).
Upon returning from the USA, Keith began lecturing part time in Agricultural
Economics at the University of Sydney. In 1951, as mentioned earlier, he took up
his appointment at Sydney. He was promoted to Research Professor in 1956 and
so became the ﬁrst person to hold a Chair in Agricultural Economics in Australia.
With the formation of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University
C  Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc. and Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2005240 Obituary
of Sydney in 1964, Keith became the Foundation Head of Department, a position he
held with distinction until ill-health forced his early retirement in 1982.
Keith quickly earned the respect of his academic peers and he was elected a Fellow
oftheAustralianInstituteofAgriculturalSciences(asitwasatthattime)in1963anda
FellowoftheAcademyofSocialSciencesinAustraliain1964.Hepublishedextensively,
includingmanyarticlesintheEconomicRecord.Indeed,hislistofpublicationsincludes
three books, 13 chapters in books, over 70 refereed articles and more than 10 research
reports. He continued topublish long after he retiredfrom the University of Sydney. In
fact, one of his most interesting contributions – a book entitled Henry Parkes’s Utopia
which he published in 1994 – is not even listed on his academic curriculum vitae.
During his 30years at the University of Sydney, Keith served the university and its
community of scholars in many ways. He was a campus leader in a broad sense being:
President of the Sydney Association of University Teachers (1961–1962); President of
the University of Sydney Staff Club (1966–1967); Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture
(1968–1971); and President of the University of Sydney Association of Professors
(1979–1980).
Despite Keith’s outstanding contributions as an academic and academic admin-
istrator, it was his role in developing and fostering the profession of Agricultural
Economics in Australia for which he will be best remembered – because so many
others have beneﬁted from his efforts in this regard.
The formal record shows that Keith was the Organising Secretary for the First
Conference of the Australian Agricultural Economics Society (AAES) in 1957, the
Foundation President of the Society (1957) and Member of Federal Council (1958–
1977).
The informal record – for those who were active in the profession from the early
1950s to the early 1980s – is much longer and more complicated. Not only did KO
Campbell have a guiding hand in so many of the AAES activities during this pe-
riod, he also worked ceaselessly to link the Australian profession to the international
profession.
His work with the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE)
began in 1955 when he became the Country Representative in Australia for the IAAE,
a position he held until 1976. He persuaded the IAAE to hold its 13th Triennial In-
ternational Conference in Sydney in 1967 and, as Chair of the Organising Committee,
Keith raised the ﬁnancial and human capital necessary for an outstandingly success-
ful conference. These meetings provided an opportunity to showcase the Australian
profession to the international leaders of the Agricultural Economics fraternity. Many
younger members of the Australian profession subsequently ‘grew their careers’ on
the contacts made at this gathering. After the Sydney conference, Keith continued to
foster relationships between the Australian profession and the IAAE, being elected an
IAAE Vice-President (1973–1976).
‘KO’ was a great character in many ways. A dry speaker, he never claimed to be an
entertainer! But he could certainly ‘call a spade a spade’ when he judged the occasion
warrantedit.Fromtime-to-timeinthe1950s,1960sand1970s,Keithbecamenotorious
both on- and off-campus as the ‘possum stirrer’ from the bottom of Science Road at
the University of Sydney.
C  Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc. and Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2005Obituary 241
On-campus, his concern that students in the Faculty of Agriculture understand the
economic, social and environmental implications of agricultural production brought
him into conﬂict with those who felt that ‘knowing how to make two blades of grass
grow where one grew before’ was all that students needed to know.
Off-campus, his reasoned attacks in the media aimed at reforming some of the
agricultural protection policies of the day greatly distressed powerful vested interests
and rent seekers.
In these and other areas, Keith was a man well ahead of his time. He was an ‘old
fashioned academic’ who believed that it was important for academics to engage in
public policy debates without fear or favour. Both in his writings and in his public
utterances, Keith used his considerable intellectual skills and his exceptional grasp of
economics to argue logically and rationally ‘in the public interest’.
Perhaps because he dared to be different, Keith attracted many talented students
to agricultural economics. He was always extremely supportive of former students. He
was also very proud that so many of them had risen to prominence both in Australia
and overseas.
Keith, despite work pressures, always endeavoured to maintain a healthy balance in
his life, being a devoted family man and someone who participated enthusiastically in
his local church and suburban community activities. Keith’s wife Christiana – also a
formerUniversityofSydneyacademic–andhisdaughterCatherinebothpre-deceased
him.HeissurvivedbyhissonBillanddaughterMargaretandtheirrespectivefamilies.
JOHN W. LONGWORTH
Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics
The University of Queensland
C  Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc. and Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2005

Obituary: Vale 'KO' Campbell

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Research Papers in Economics