Jack Keith Murray

Sir Jack Keith Murray, (8 February 1889 – 10 December 1979), often cited as J. K. Murray, was an Australian colonial administrator, army officer, and educator. He was Administrator of the Australian Territory of Papua and New Guinea, and foundation Professor of Agriculture at the Queensland Agricultural College (now University of Queensland, Gatton campus).

Early life Jack Keith Murray was born on 8 February 1889 in Middle Brighton, Melbourne, Victoria. His parents' marriage ended when he was 2 and his mother moved to Sydney with him, working to find the fees to pay his attendance at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill in 1904. He married Evelyn Andrews in 1924, a fellow University of Sydney graduate, before being appointed as the first Professor of Agriculture at the Queensland Agricultural College (now the University of Queensland Gatton Campus). He worked to improve the standard of education in agricultural science. Murray was Chairman of the Queensland Plant Breeding Committee. He became President of the Royal Society of Queensland in 1936. He was also a member of the Queensland State Committee of CSIR and the Australian National Research Council.

During the Second World War, Murray enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force and was made Commanding Officer of the 25th Battalion, Darling Downs Regiment in 1940, managed staff training for Northern Command, and rose to the rank of colonel in charge of AIF training depots. He became Chief Instructor of the Land Headquarters School of Civil Affairs at Duntroon, helping to retrain ex-servicemen after the war. His wife, Evelyn, was also involved with teaching at Gatton.

Murray was appointed Administrator of the Australian Territories in Papua and New Guinea from 1945 to 1952, and was knighted in 1978, for his contribution to the development of PNG as it moved toward independence. He returned to the University in 1953, and worked steadily on the project that created James Cook University. He was also active on the University of Queensland's Buildings and Grounds Committee, was on the board of Cromwell College and was a member of the University Union House Committee which oversaw the Student Union.