Helen Dolly Hughes (1 October 1928 – 15 June 2013) was an Australian economist. She was Professor Emerita at the Australian National University, Canberra, and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, Sydney. Hughes has been described as Australia's greatest female economist.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Born Helen Gintz into a Jewish family on 1 October 1928, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, she lived until 1939 in Česká Třebová. Hughes migrated with her parents to Melbourne in 1939, where she lived at North Brighton
Education
Helen attended Elsternwick Primary School and Mac.Robertson Girls' High School. She completed a BA (Hons) from the University of Melbourne in 1949, winning the Marion Boothby Exhibition in British History in 1947 and 1st Place in General History in 1948. She received an MA (Hons) from Melbourne University in 1951. Her dissertation on the history of the Australian steel industry was later published as her first book. She completed her PhD at the London School of Economics in 1954.
Marriage and children
Hughes was married twice. She had two sons by her first marriage to Ian Hughes. In 1975 she married Graeme Dorrance, an economist at the International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC.
Death
Hughes died in Sydney from complications following surgery on 15 June 2013.
Career
Employment
1955–1958 Business economist, Melbourne.
1959–1960 Lecturer in economics, University of New South Wales.
1961–1962 Senior Lecturer in economics, University of Queensland.
1963–1968 Research Fellow – Senior Fellow, Department of Economics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.
1969-1983 The World Bank
1976–1983 Director, Economic Analysis Department.
1973–1975 Deputy Director, Development Economics Department.
1971–1973 Division Chief, Industry Division.
1969–1970 Senior Economist, Industry Division
1983–1993 Professor of Economics and Executive Director, National Centre for Development Studies, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.
1987–1993 Member, United Nations Committee for Development Planning.
1984–1992 Director, International Development Program.
1983–1991 Director, Aussat Pty Ltd.
1986–1991 Member of the Board of Management, Asian Pacific Development Centre.
1989–1991 Member, National Advisory Committee on Skills Recognition.
1987–1995 Director, National Mutual Life Association of Australasia.
Honours
1985 Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
1985 Officer of the Order of Australia for "service to international relations, particularly in the field of economics".
1994 Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) La Trobe University.
2001 Centenary Medal, for "service to economic policy, particularly poverty alleviation and economic development".
2004 Distinguished Fellow, Economic Society of Australia.