The Rt Hon Sir Owen Dixon (1886–1972) was a Justice of the High Court from 4 February 1929 to 17 April 1952, and Chief Justice from 18 April 1952 to 13 April 1964. He had been appointed an acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1926. After graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degree, he was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1910, and appointed a King's Counsel (KC) in 1922. During World War II, Justice Dixon accepted several federal government appointments, including chair of several wartime committees. He took leave from the Court to serve as Australian Minister to Washington (1942–44), and he was appointed a United Nations mediator in the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan in 1950.
Owen Dixon's civil honours include appointment as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in 1941, a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1951, the Grand Cross of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1954, and an Order of Merit (OM) in 1963. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Civil Law (Hon DCL) from Oxford University, and honorary Doctorates in Law (Hon LLD) from Harvard, the Australian National University and Melbourne University. He was awarded the Henry E Howland Memorial Prize at Yale University.