Leslie Melville

Sir Leslie Galfreid Melville, KBE (26 March 1902 – 30 April 2002) was a renowned Australian economist, academic and public servant. He helped form Australia's central banking system and gave his voice in international economic forums in the years following World War II. He also played an important role in the early years of the Australian National University, as its Vice-Chancellor 1953-60.

Leslie Melville was born in Sydney in 1902. His father Richard Ernest Melville was of Irish stock, and his mother Lillian Evelyn née Thatcher had English forebears. During World War I, his father lost his job as a bank manager and then invested in a project that failed, bringing the family into severe financial difficulty. This experience helped formulate Leslie's outlook and attitudes to economic matters generally. He won a scholarship to Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore), where he topped the state in mathematics, and was known as the "Isaac Newton of Shore".

While studying engineering at the University of Sydney, he diverged into actuarial studies and then joined the NSW Superannuation Fund. Working full-time meant he could study only subjects he could take at evenings, so he chose economics. In 1924, aged only 22, he was appointed Public Actuary for South Australia. In this role he was often called upon to advise the government on economic issues generally.

In 1928 he gave evidence on Commonwealth-State economic and financial matters before the Royal Commission on the Australian Constitution, and again in 1929 before the Royal Commission on the Finances of South Australia.

In 1929, aged only 27, Leslie Melville became the Foundation Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide.

In 1930 he became Chief Economic Adviser to the Commonwealth Bank, a role he held for 23 years. In this role he was at the forefront of the formulation of Australia's policies to combat the Great Depression.

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