In Australia Dux is the title given to the highest ranking student in academic, sporting or artistic achievement in each graduating year and can lead to university scholarships, which it indeed did for Aberdeen.
He was awarded a scholarship to the University of Queensland and whilst he no doubt achieved this merit based on his academic performance he was also an avid cricketer, rugby player and school tennis champion for several years.
The department was focused heavily on tackling pest and disease problems most likely to impact agricultural production in Queensland and Aberdeen contributed greatly towards this goal, especially with his work on tomato crops.
[2] Aberdeen resigned from this position in 1969 and joined the Queensland Agricultural College in Gatton as the head of the Department of Plant Industry.
One of his duties in this position was liaising with the Queensland Police Service in their investigations of 'offences' related to the use of psychedelic mushrooms however after retiring in 1973 he pursued his pre-existing interest into the taxonomy of these fungi.