Born in 1948, Tallon was educated at Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland from 1962 to 1966. After a Bachelor of Science(Honours) at the University of Auckland, he undertook doctoral studies at Victoria University of Wellington under Stuart Smedley and Bill Robinson, completing his Doctor of Philosophy in chemistry in 1976.
He was awarded a Doctor of Science in 1996. His thesis was titled Selected publications of Jefferey Lewis Tallon: a thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Science.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1993, and in 1998 he won the society"s Hector Medal jointly with Paul Callaghan. In 2002, Tallon was awarded the Rutherford Medal, the highest award in New Zealand science. In the 2009 Queen"s Birthday he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science.
