Balfour, Jean (1927–)
Balfour, Jean (1927–)
Scottish conservationist and land manager. Born Elizabeth Jean Drew, Nov 4, 1927, in Scotland; University of Edinburgh, BS with honors, 1949; m. John Charles Balfour, 1950.
Served as partner-owner of Balbirnie Home Farms and Balbirnie Dairy Farm, as director of A&J Bowen and Co. (1960–97) and as chair of Countryside Commission for Scotland (1972–83); involved in forestry, land management, and agriculture; made botanical expeditions to Greenland, Ellesmere Island, Franz Joseph Land, Novaya Zemlya, and arctic Siberia, among others; served as governor of East Scotland College of Agriculture for 30 years and as vice president (1982–88); named to Cabinet as deputy chair of Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology in Office of Science and Technology (1993); at government's request, wrote report of recommendations, A New Look at the Northern Ireland Countryside (1984). Made CBE (1981), awarded Order of the Falcon (Iceland, 1994), and received Institute of Chartered Foresters Medal for services to British Forestry (1996).