Baumgart, Ian Lawrence Biography 1992

Baumgart, Ian Lawrence
Former DSIR scientist and Commissioner For the Environment
Born Hastings 15 April 1920; married 1945 Lesley Grace Thompson (d 1966); four children – Stuart David (b 1946), Margaret Helen Simmons (b 1948), Peter John (b 1949), Graeme Donald (b 1951); remarried 1968 Nesta May West
Educated Hastings High School – Dux 1937, 1938; Victoria University College, Wellington 1939-45 – Bachelor of Arts (NZ) 1942, Bachelor of Science (NZ) 1945; Brookings Institution, Washington DC, USA 1962 on Harkness Fellowship of the Commonwealth Fund
Retired, formerly DSIR 1945-62, 1963-74; Principal Scientist for agriculture and biology 1955-62, Senior Principal Scientist 1963-65, Assistant Director General (agriculture and biology) 1966-73; Commissioner For the Environment 1974-80; United Nations consultant 1980-83
Visiting fellow School of Forestry, Canterbury University, 1982, Chairman Toxic Substances Board 1980-86, Deputy Chairman National Research Advisory Council 1980-86, National President NZ Institute of Agricultural Science 1961, Chairman NZ Anima Ethics Advisory Committee 1984-89, NZ Representative Commonwealth Fund og New York 1976-84 (Harkness Fellowships)
Awarded Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal 1977, QSO 1980; Thomson Medal of the Royal Society of NZ 1987 for service to science. FNZIAS 1966.
Leisure activities include boating, travel, gardening
Address 27 Onehura Road, Lower Hutt