{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Short description|Australian agricultural scientist}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Di Davidson | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} |office = Deputy Chancellor of the University of Adelaide |chancellor = Robert Hill<br>Herself<br>Kevin Scarce |term_start = 2013 |term_end = 2016 |predecessor = Pamela Martin |successor = Catherine Branson | office1 = <small>Acting</small> Chancellor of the University of Adelaide | term_start1 = July 2014 | term_end1 = November 2014<ref> https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153254992400400&set=a.10153254992265400&id=100064600937143</ref><ref> https://web.archive.org/web/20250615222800/https://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news71942.html</ref> | predecessor1 = Robert Hill | successor1 = Kevin Scarce | birth_name = Dianne Davidson }}
'''Dianne Davidson''' {{postnominals|country=AUS|OAM}}, commonly known as '''Di Davidson''', is an Australian agricultural scientist, author, and former Acting Chancellor of the University of Adelaide. Davidson is the current Chair of the South Australian Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Landscape South Australia - Murraylands and Riverland {{!}} Meet our…|url=https://www.landscape.sa.gov.au/mr/about-us/murraylands-and-riverland-landscape-board/meet-our-members|access-date=2021-11-24|website=Landscape South Australia - Murraylands and Riverland|language=en}}</ref>
== Career == The primary focus of Di's career has been viticulture, culminating in her authorship of two books: ''A Guide to Growing Winegrapes in Australia'' (1992)<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/13980340 |title= A guide to growing winegrapes in Australia |last=Davidson|first=Dianne M |date=1995 |publisher=Hahndorf, S.A. : Dianne Davidson Consulting Services P/L|isbn=0646114549|edition=2nd |language=English}}</ref> and ''The Business of Vineyards'' (2001).<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2703819 |title=The business of vineyards |last=Davidson |first=Dianne M |publisher=Davidson Viticultural Consulting Services |isbn=0957941005 |location=Glen Osmond, S. Aust |date=2001}}</ref> She owns properties at Langhorne Creek and in the Adelaide Hills and manages a consultancy firm called Davidson Consulting.
Davidson has served on a number of boards throughout her career. Previously she has been a director Horticulture Australia Limited, which manages research and development funding for Australia's horticultural sector, and has also served on the Premier's Climate Change Council in South Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mdba.gov.au/about-us/governance/authority|title=The Authority|date=2015-10-16|website=www.mdba.gov.au|access-date=2017-09-29}}</ref> She has worked closely on water policy reform since 2006, having served as a member of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority for 9 years, with responsibility for crafting the Basin Plan, and being a Presiding Member of the former South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board in 2019-20.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Landscape South Australia - Murraylands and Riverland {{!}} Meet our…|url=https://www.landscape.sa.gov.au/mr/about-us/murraylands-and-riverland-landscape-board/meet-our-members|access-date=2021-11-24|website=Landscape South Australia - Murraylands and Riverland|language=en}}</ref>
Davidson has had strong involvement in higher education administration. She has been a Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and the Australian Institute of Agriculture, Science and Technology.<ref name="adelaide">{{Cite web|url=http://www.adelaide.edu.au/adelaidean/issues/60481/news60482.html|title=Adelaidean -- A champion of the land|website=www.adelaide.edu.au|access-date=2017-09-29}}</ref> She was a councillor of the University of Adelaide for 12 years, four of which she was Deputy Chancellor.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Adelaidean -- A champion of the land|url=https://www.adelaide.edu.au/adelaidean/issues/60481/news60482.html|access-date=2021-11-24|website=www.adelaide.edu.au}}</ref>
In 2015, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the wine industry, horticulture management, and higher education administration.
== Education == Davidson obtained her Bachelor of Agricultural Science Degree from the University of Adelaide in 1969.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://brocku.ca/ccovi/wp-content/uploads/sites/125/Triggs-Lecture.Davidson.CV_.pdf|title=Dianne Davidson|website=Brock University|access-date=26 May 2025}}</ref> She holds a Master of Science from James Cook University where she previously worked in the botany department. She also holds a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the South Australian Institute of Technology. She was a student of Seymour College where she later served on the Board in her adulthood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/1932#idx7143|title=Interview with Di Davidson [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn|website=State Library of South Australia|access-date=2017-09-29}}</ref>
== References == <references />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Di}} Category:Academic staff of James Cook University Category:Living people Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:University of Adelaide alumni Category:James Cook University alumni Category:Members of the Order of Australia Category:Australian women scientists Category:Australian viticulturists Category:Chancellors of the University of Adelaide Category:Deputy Chancellors of the University of Adelaide