22nd Governor of Tasmania. He served as governor from 1 October 1982 to 8 May 1987. Prior to serving as governor, he studied at Sydney Boys High School from 1929 to 1933. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics degree in 1938 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1941. In 1938 he joined the economics department of the Bank of New South Wales. In 1945 he attended the United States Army’s School of Military Government, Charlottesville, Virginia, and finished second out of 350 officers. Promoted to major in June, he was posted to the Australian Military Mission in Washington, DC. In September 1946 he became an Australian representative on the Far Eastern Commission, newly set up to co-ordinate postwar Allied policy towards Japan. He returned to Australia in November 1947 and in December transferred to the Reserve of Officers. He then joined Australia's Department of External Affairs. In 1950, during the Korean War, he was sent to Korea with ambassadorial rank as Australia’s representative on the UN commission for unification and rehabilitation. In 1953 he was appointed assistant-secretary, geographical regions division, Department of External Affairs. Australia's most experienced and senior diplomat, his illustrious foreign service career included Australia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1959–1963), High Commissioner to India (1963–1965), Secretary of the Department of External Affairs (1965–1970), Ambassador to the United States (1970–1973), Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1974–1977), Ambassador to Belgium and the European Economic Community (1977–1980), High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1980–1981) and Ambassador to Japan (1981–1982). He is best remembered for being described as Australia's "greatest Ambassador" by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, in 2006.