Dr. Leslie Denis Swindale passed away peacefully at the age of 94, on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at his home in Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, with his devoted wife of 67 years and loving family by his side.Dr. Swindale lived a long and distinguished life. Born on March 16, 1928, in Wellington, New Zealand, to Ernest and Anne Swindale, Dr. Swindale completed his graduate (1948) and master's (1950) degrees at Victoria University, Wellington before securing a doctoral degree as a Fulbright Scholar from the University of Wisconsin in 1955.
Dr. Swindale started his career as a physical chemist at the New Zealand Soil Bureau and held several notable positions which included Director of New Zealand Pottery and Ceramics Research Association, (1960-1963), Professor and Chairman of the Department of Agronomy and Soil Science at the University of Hawaii (1963-1968), Chief of Soil Resources and Conservation with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy (1968-1970), Associate Director of Hawaii Agricultural Experimental Station, Waimanalo, Hawaii (1970-1976), and Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India (1977–1991). After retiring from ICRISAT Dr. Swindale served as the Chairman of the Board of the International Irrigation Management Institute in Columbo, Sri Lanka. Later in life, Dr. Swindale served as an adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and volunteered at the University of Hawaii's Harold L. Lyon Arboretum in Manoa Valley, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Dr. Swindale was the author of several books on soil and agricultural sciences and led the Benchmark Soils Project, sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development. In 1971 Dr. Swindale was recognized as an Outstanding Educator of America. Dr. Swindale was a Fellow of New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, American Society of Agronomy, American Society of Soil Science, and a foreign fellow of the Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The President of India awarded him the third highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan, in 1991, for his contributions to science, making him one of the very few non-Indians to receive the award. In 1995, he was awarded a silver medal for his contributions to science and technology by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Dr. Swindale is survived by his beloved wife, Delle; children: Brian (Shari), Anne, David (Mary); four grandchildren; his brother, Colin, and many loving nieces and nephews, grandnieces and nephews and great-grandnieces and nephews. As his final contribution to science Dr. Swindale willed his body to the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine.
A Celebration of Life will be held in New Zealand on a date to be determined. Donations in his memory may be made to the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resource.
(https://www.uhfoundation.org/give/giving-opportunity/
plant-seed-future-ctahr).
