Professor Wilfred David (Mick) Borrie was born in 1913 in New Zealand. He moved to Sydney in 1941 to teach at Knox Grammar School and began working for Professor R C Mills at the University of Sydney, concentrating on immigration and population matters. After teaching Social History in Sydney University, he joined the Australian National University (ANU) in 1948 as staff member in charge of population studies and became the first Chair of Demography. Professor Borrie established the Department of Demography, Research School of Social Sciences at the ANU in 1952. He served on the Australian government's immigration planning councils (1965-81), helping to formulate immigration policy. From 1970-78 he directed the government's National Population Inquiry. Borrie remained Professor of Demography until his retirement in 1978.