Gordon Lee McClymont AO was an Australian agricultural scientist, ecologist, and educationist.
41 Facts About Gordon McClymont
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The originator of the term "sustainable agriculture", McClymont is known for his multidisciplinary approach to farm ecology.
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Gordon McClymont was the foundation chair of the Faculty of Rural Science at the University of New England, the first degree program of its kind to integrate animal husbandry, veterinary science, agronomy, and other disciplines into the field of livestock and agricultural production.
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Gordon McClymont's father was one of seven sons of a Scottish immigrant to Australia.
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Gordon McClymont's father greeted him as a newborn with, "G'day Bill" and Bill stuck with him as a nickname for the rest of his life.
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Gordon McClymont attended Chatswood Intermediate High School, where he became interested in science.
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In spite of his lack of formal agricultural training, Gordon McClymont passed the exam and interview and was assigned to the University of Sydney's veterinary science program.
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When World War II began in 1939, Gordon McClymont joined the Australian Army Veterinary Corps in the 2nd Cavalry Mobile Veterinary Section assigned to his university.
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Gordon McClymont's unit volunteered for overseas duty, but was refused.
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Gordon McClymont joined the Royal Australian Air Force as an aircrew reservist, but was again denied an overseas assignment and ordered to complete his education at Sydney while serving the military in a scientific advisory role.
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Gordon McClymont joined the Volunteer Defence Corps at the rank of sergeant and served weekend duty during the war years at anti-aircraft and radar installations in Australia.
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Gordon McClymont graduated in 1941 with a bachelor of veterinary science, First Class Honours, and a gold university medal.
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Immediately after graduation in 1941, Gordon McClymont was appointed as a specialist in animal nutrition at the New South Wales Department of Agriculture.
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In one instance during the war, Gordon McClymont had to respond to a swine influenza outbreak caused by pig meat imported by American troops stationed in Australia.
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Gordon McClymont's thesis, called Interrelationships between the digestive and mammary physiology of ruminants, was based on research he had conducted in 1947 in which he discovered that green oat consumption by dairy cows produced milk with less butterfat.
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Gordon McClymont was not impressed by the agricultural education he observed in Britain or the US, saying that the British focused on estate management while the Americans concentrated on descriptive evaluations of livestock quality.
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Between 1945 and 1953, Gordon McClymont participated in adult education activities to rural areas around New South Wales for the Sydney University Extension Board and New England University College.
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From 1951 to 1953, Gordon McClymont helped New England University College establish facilities and adult classes in animal husbandry and agricultural economics in Walcha, Tamworth, Moree, and Dubbo.
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Gordon McClymont felt the veterinary science specialization was too narrow, especially in the area of animal husbandry and livestock production.
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Gordon McClymont saw the letter and responded with his own missive to the journal in June 1953.
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Gordon McClymont added that the university-level training in the field should include, "extension work, research, and commercial applications".
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Gordon McClymont concluded that university graduates in such a field of study would be prepared to blend veterinary and agricultural production sciences to optimize farm animal output.
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Gordon McClymont's paper, submitted on 8 September 1953, was titled, "Planning Rural Science and Possible Curriculum".
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Gordon McClymont had to borrow a chair since his office did not have one.
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Gordon McClymont pointed out to Madgwick that the program could begin accepting enrolments in 1956 because the existing faculty of science could already offer first-year courses in several basic science topics needed for the degree program.
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On 11 July 1955, Gordon McClymont gave the degree program's inaugural address in the auditorium of nearby Armidale Teachers' College, titled "All Flesh is Grass" after a passage in the Biblical Book of Isaiah.
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Gordon McClymont is considered to be the originator of the term "sustainable agriculture".
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Gordon McClymont diagrammed the key elements of agricultural ecosystems into a series of flowcharts which were often used by other agricultural instructors.
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Gordon McClymont alerted the agricultural community to the issues involved with feeding grain to livestock while the world was experiencing a shortage of grain.
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Gordon McClymont published a series of articles in academic journals on biochemistry and animal nutrition, including pregnancy toxaemia in sheep, poultry nutrition, and mineral deficiencies in dairy cattle.
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Gordon McClymont promoted an original approach to researching metabolic diseases in livestock, utilizing radioactive tracer methods to identify "the quantitative importance of various metabolites including glucose, volatile fatty acids, B-hydroxybutyrate and long chain fatty acids in ruminant metabolism, and the metabolic interactions between these materials".
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In 1967 Gordon McClymont was awarded the Australian Poultry Award for his work in poultry nutrition and with the poultry industry, particularly in the Namoi River region.
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In 1967, Gordon McClymont proposed the establishment of a School of Biological Sciences at the university because of expansion of the topic within the Department of Rural Science.
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Gordon McClymont served on the advisory standing committee of eight for the independent but university-affiliated Kellogg Rural Adjustment Unit.
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Gordon McClymont retired from the university in 1980 and was appointed an emeritus professor.
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In retirement, Gordon McClymont continued to consult with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in its Department of Agricultural Education, Research, and Rural Matters.
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Gordon McClymont lamented the changes, feeling that they damaged the quality and standing of the rural science degree program.
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Gordon McClymont was survived by his wife, Vivienne, and their four children, daughter Vicky and sons Kim, Glen, and Rod.
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Gordon McClymont believed in challenging dogma, which sometimes earned him enmity from colleagues and associates.
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Gordon McClymont reportedly placed emphasis on the welfare of his students.
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For example, Gordon McClymont criticized the 1963 decision by the University Council to abolish room-visiting between female and male students.