{{Short description|Australian scientist (1937–2025)}} {{for|those of the same or a similar name|Jim Peacock (footballer)|James Peacock (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Jim Peacock | honorific_suffix = AC FAA FRS FTSE | image = | caption = | birth_name = William James Peacock | birth_date = {{birth date|1937|12|14}} | birth_place = Leura, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|10|21|1937|12|14}} | death_place = Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia | fields = Molecular biology, genetics, botany | workplaces = {{unbulleted list|CSIRO Plant Industry|Chief Scientist of Australia (2006–2008)}} | alma_mater = University of Sydney (BSc, PhD) | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | notable_students = | known_for = {{unbulleted list|Plant molecular biology research|Isolation of a plant transposable element|Chief Scientist of Australia|President of the Australian Academy of Science}} | prizes = {{unbulleted list|Lemberg Medal (1978)|Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture (1989)|Prime Minister's Prize for Science (2000)}} | spouses = }}
'''William James Peacock''' (14 December 1937 – 21 October 2025) was an Australian molecular biologist who was Chief Scientist of Australia (2006–2008),<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1581186.htm | title = New chief scientist makes waves | author = Karen Percy | work = The World Today | date = 1 March 2006 | accessdate = 29 January 2007 }}</ref> President of the Australian Academy of Science (2002–2006) and Chief of CSIRO Plant Industry (1978–2003).<ref name=Nature>Virginia Gewin, [http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2006/060713/full/nj7099-220a.html Jim Peacock, chief scientist, Canberra, Australia], ''Nature'' [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7099/#Naturejobs Vol 442, No 7099], pg 220, 12 July 2006. Retrieved 4 November 2009.</ref>
==Life and career== Peacock was born in Leura, New South Wales<ref name=eoas>{{cite web |url= http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000699b.htm |title= Peacock, William James (1937 – ) |author1= G.J. McCarthy |author2= Helen Cohn |work= Biographical entry |publisher= Encyclopaedia of Australian Science |date= 12 December 2017 }}</ref> and educated at the University of Sydney, where he studied botany and zoology and gained a PhD in genetics. He followed this with post-doctoral positions in genetics at the University of Oregon in Eugene and molecular biology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, before returning to Australia to work with the CSIRO.<ref name=Nature/>
Peacock was a Member of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) and the National Innovation Council and served on the Australian Research Council (ARC) Grants Committee, the Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council (ASTEC) and the Academy of Science's Committee on Recombinant DNA Molecules (ASCORD). In 2000, Dr Peacock was joint recipient of the inaugural Prime Minister's Prize for Science.
Peacock was appointed Chief Scientist of Australia on a part-time basis in March 2006, and his term concluded on 31 August 2008. Penny Sackett was appointed his replacement, to take up the position on a full-time basis in November 2008.<ref>Davis, Mark: [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/astronomer-announced-as-new-chief-scientist/2008/09/30/1222651085451.html Astronomer announced as new chief scientist], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 1 October 2008.</ref>
Peacock died on 21 October 2025, at the age of 87.<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 October 2025 |title=Academy farewells champion of Australian science |url=https://www.science.org.au/news-and-events/news-and-media-releases/academy-farewells-champion-of-australian-science |access-date=22 October 2025 |website=Australian Academy of Science |language=en}}</ref>
==Honours and awards== Peacock had a distinguished career in science and received many honours. He was awarded the Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture in 1989 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1994.
Peacock was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in March 1982,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/Lists-of-Royal-Society-Fellows-1660-2007/ |title=Lists of Royal Society Fellows 1660–2007 |publisher=The Royal Society |accessdate=15 July 2010 |location=London |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324095152/http://royalsociety.org/Lists-of-Royal-Society-Fellows-1660-2007/ |archivedate=24 March 2010 }}</ref> a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, a Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences, Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, and a Foundation Member Academia Bibliotheca Alexandrinae. He was awarded the Lemberg Medal by the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lemberg Medal Winners |url=https://www.asbmb.org.au/waldronsmith.eventsair.com/lemberg-medal-winners |access-date=31 January 2024 |website=Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology }}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080718182237/http://www.chiefscientist.dest.gov.au/ The Chief Scientist] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080720164607/http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/science_innovation/office_of_the_chief_scientist/ Office of the Chief Scientist]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock, Jim}} Category:1937 births Category:2025 deaths Category:People from the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Category:Chief Scientists of Australia Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Category:Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Category:Farrer Medal recipients Category:Presidents of the Australian Academy of Science Category:Australian fellows of the Royal Society