The ANU community are mourning the loss of Professor John Charles "Jack" Caldwell, a demographer who was noted for his ground-breaking work on fertility, mortality and the spread of disease in South Asia and Africa.
"Jack was a humble and unassuming man with an adventurous mind and an abiding commitment to a better understanding of human behavior," said Professor Peter McDonald.
"It was indeed a privilege and a stroke of good fortune on my part to have spent 45 years of my career in the presence of Jack Caldwell."
The ANU community are invited to celebrate the life of distinguished demographer Jack Caldwell AO at a memorial service on Wednesday 25 May.
Professor Caldwell died on March 12. He was 87 years old.
He was the author of 25 books, 128 book chapters and 139 journal articles and his relationship with ANU spanned more than 50 years.
Professor Caldwell's seminal work included documentation of the role of mother's education in fertility limitation and child mortality decline and the role of circumcision in inhibiting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
In 1970, at the age of 41, was appointed Head of the Department of Demography at ANU, a position he held until 1988.
He is particularly noted for his wealth flows theory, which relates demographic transition theory to changes in intergenerational transfers within the family and received recognition both at home and overseas.
Professor Caldwell was awarded the three highest international honours in the field of demography: the Irene Taeuber Award for excellence in demographic research, the United Nations Population Award and he was the President of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, the peak international body for demography. No other person has won all three of these awards.
In 1994 he was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia and received the Australian Centenary Medal in 2001.
Professor Caldwell is survived by four sons, Peter, Colin, Grahame and Bruce, six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
The service will be held at 10.45am Wednesday 25 May in the Common Room at University House.
Please RSVP by Friday May 20 to vc.events@anu.edu.au.
» Obituary written by Bob Douglas, Terry Hull and Peter McDonald