James Rowland (RAAF officer)

Air Marshal Sir James Rowland AC, KBE, DFC, AFC
Official RAAF portrait of Air Marshal Rowland
33rd Governor of New South Wales
In office 20 January 1981 – 20 January 1989
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
Premier	Neville Wran (1981–86) Barrie Unsworth (1986–88) Nick Greiner (1988–89)
Lieutenant	Sir Laurence Street[1]
Preceded by	Sir Roden Cutler
Succeeded by	Sir David Martin
Personal details
Born	James Anthony Rowland (1922-11-01)1 November 1922 Armidale, New South Wales
Died	27 May 1999(1999-05-27) (aged 76) Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Profession	Air Force officer
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Branch/service	Royal Australian Air Force
Years of service	1942–1979
Rank	Air Marshal
Unit	No. 635 Squadron RAF
Commands	ARDU (1956–59) No. 3 Aircraft Depot (1966–69) RAAF Technical Services (1972–75) Chief of the Air Staff (1975–79)
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Companion of the Order of Australia Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross

Air Marshal Sir James Anthony Rowland, AC, KBE, DFC, AFC (1 November 1922 – 27 May 1999) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1975 to 1979. He held office as Governor of New South Wales from 1981 to 1989, and was Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991.

Born in rural New South Wales, Rowland cut short his aeronautical engineering studies at the University of Sydney to join the RAAF in 1942. He was posted to Britain and served as a bomber pilot with the Pathfinders in the air war over Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. The following year he was forced to bail out over Germany following a collision with another Allied aircraft, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.

After repatriation and demobilisation, Rowland gained his engineering degree and rejoined the RAAF. He became a test pilot, serving with and later commanding the Aircraft Research and Development Unit in the 1950s, and also a senior engineering officer, being closely involved in preparations for delivery to Australia of the Dassault Mirage III supersonic fighter in the 1960s. In 1972, he was promoted to air vice marshal and became Air Member for Technical Services, holding this post until his elevation to air marshal and appointment as CAS in March 1975. He was the first engineering officer to lead the RAAF, and the first man to personally command it in a legal sense, following abolition of the Australian Air Board in 1976. Knighted in 1977, Rowland retired from the Air Force in 1979 and became Governor of New South Wales in January 1981. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1987. Retiring from the Governorship in 1989, he held a place on several boards as well as the Chancellorship of the University of Sydney.