 Sir Roland Wilson was an economist and academic who had a distinguished career as an Australian public servant. In 1925, Wilson became the first Rhodes Scholar from a Tasmanian state school. He completed two PhDs at Oxford University and the University of Chicago. Wilson was recognized by his academic colleagues as a talented researcher, but felt his calling was the public service. After a brief tenure lecturing at the University of Tasmania, he joined the Commonwealth Bureau of Statistics as an economist. Wilson was appointed the agency head in 1936. During World War II, Wilson created and led the Department of Labor and National Service. In this role, he was responsible for coordinating Australia's economic approach to World War II. The ministers and prime ministers he served respected his expertise as an economist and leader. It also led to international influence. Wilson represented Australia at international conferences on the economy, including a 1945 UN conference. He is credited with having the objective of full employment included in the UN Charter. Wilson was appointed the Secretary of the Treasury in 1951. At the time he was the youngest appointed to the role and is still the Department's longest serving secretary, with almost 16 years in the role. It was to Wilson that Menzies turned to solve the problem of inflation. But every time I even looked like being threatened by adverse factors and people, I could always rely on Menzies saying, please do what you're told. His time as treasurer was marked as a time of strong economic growth for Australia. He developed a reputation as a strong leader. There is no more experienced administrator available in Australia. Wilson retired from the public service in 1966, taking up roles as chairman on the boards of Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank. He was honoured for his outstanding public service with a commander of the British Empire in 1941, Knight's Bachelor in 1955 and KBE in 1965. The Sir Roland Wilson Foundation was set up in 1998 to honour his legacy by continuing to bridge the gap between academia and the public service.