Making Sense of Place #4 (Portrait of Professor George Seddon)

George Seddon AM (1927-2007), scholar and academic, studied English at Melbourne University before spending several years abroad, travelling and teaching at universities in Europe and North America. He returned to Australia in 1956 to take up a lectureship in English at the University of Western Australia and during this time developed an interest in environmentalism. He completed a BSc in Perth, with a major in geology, and then returned to the USA, attaining masters and doctoral degrees in science from the University of Minnesota. He briefly returned to WA before going back to America and taking up a professorship in geology and geophysics at the University of Oregon. In 1970, he published his first book, Swan River Landscapes. This was followed by many others including A Sense of Place (1972); Your vegetable garden in Australia (1983); A city and its setting (1986); and Searching for the Snowy: an environmental history (1994), which won the Eureka Prize. From 1971 to 1974, Seddon was chair of the History and Philosophy of Science program at the University of NSW. He then became the founding professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Melbourne; and was dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning there from 1982 until 1987. Seddon's other interests included tennis, gardening, botany, photography and languages. He was the recipient of many awards and in 1998 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia. In retirement he lived in Fremantle, where he died in May 2007.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Marli Wallace 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Peteris Ciemitis