Page 1 of 434 Voices of a University Celebrating 125 Years at the University of Tasmania Distinguished Professor Don Chalmers Dr Bronwyn Meikle (Project Officer and Editor) Project Steering Committee:- Sir Guy Green AC KBE CVO, Emeritus Professor Michael Bennett Amanda Wotjowicz 2015 © The contributors Page 2 of 434 Acknowledgements To our Authors We thank each of our story authors for accepting our invitation, for writing their stories and for their constant support and enthusiasm throughout the 125 Stories project. Our authors’ efforts in our 125 Stories project fulfilled our aim to find stories about our University community and life, our academic and research achievements and our roles and achievements within our State, the nation and around the world. They are the source of the quality, humour, erudition and vitality of this 125 Stories collection. We acknowledge that they retain copyright in their works. To the 125 Advisory Committee The 125 Advisory Committee, under the chairmanship of Professor David Rich, organised over 100 special events to mark our 125th Anniversary. The 125 Advisory Committee also shaped the final 125 Stories project and provided support throughout, for which we thank them, with special thanks to Erin Mahoney. To our Project Officers We wish to warmly acknowledge the support of our Project Officers. We thank Charlotte Nicol for her research efforts in July and August 2014. We acknowledge the outstanding work of the 125 Stories Project Officer, Dr Bronwyn Meikle, who joined the project in August 2014. Bronwyn was not only involved with receiving and editing stories but also immersed in the detailed follow up with our contributors on amendments, feedback, additions and queries. Her doctoral training in history was an immense asset for research for the project and the quality of this final collection. To the Alumni Association We wish to formally acknowledge the support throughout from the Alumni Association for this project that developed their original idea and for the Alumni stories, some of which were from Alumni News. To others We wish to thank Dr Alison Alexander for her excellent advice and support. Her ideas, input and Companion to Tasmanian History helped to shape this Project. We also thank Gillian Ward for her input to this Project. Finally, we thank the State Library of Tasmania (LINC) for advice and support on the preparation of the e-version of the final 125 Voices of a University, which is deposited with our State Library. Page 3 of 434 Preface 1. Genesis of the 125 Stories Project The University of Tasmania celebrated its quasquicentennial in 2015. Many special events were organised to mark this 125th Anniversary within Tasmania, elsewhere in Australia and around the world. Planning and preparations for this 125th Anniversary began some years before. Ideas were proposed on how to involve the entire University of Tasmania community around the world, our Alumni and Friends and our Foundation in the planned 125th Anniversary celebrations. In early July 2013, Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Rathjen, shared an idea from the University’s Alumni Association and Foundation about the rudiments of a History Project Committee and a collection of historical stories about the University to mark the University’s 125th Anniversary. Rather than a traditional history, already expertly prepared by Professor Richard Davis for the University’s centenary in 1990, the discussion ranged around stories from students, Alumni, staff, both professional and academic, about the broadening base of our activities, disciplines and international reach. A small steering committee to develop this idea was proposed, comprising Sir Guy Green, as ‘Patron and Advisor’ and Professors Michael Bennett and Don Chalmers. 2. Developing the Project The Steering Committee met during the second half of 2013 and began to develop this sketch idea into a plan to be presented to the newly formed 125 Advisory Committee set up to organise the overall 125th Anniversary celebrations. The three of us met and the original plan that was presented to the 125 Advisory Committee not only ambitiously described a broad range of topics but also proposed the collection of memorabilia for exhibitions and, even more ambitiously, the revival of ‘A Democracy Precinct’ proposal that had been championed by Professor Bennett some decades before. The plan was reviewed and revised on many occasions during the succeeding 18 months as the invitations were emailed to our proposed authors. There was early agreement not to prepare any update or coda to the excellent Davis history nor to proceed with an oral history project but to refine and refocus onto other themes for our celebration in 2015. Discussions focussed on identifying 125 stories about our University of Tasmania (UTAS) community and life, our academic and research achievements and our roles and achievement, nationally and internationally. Ideas for the 125 stories broached broad themes, including our campuses; our international activities; UTAS and the sea and our links to marine and Antarctic studies and aquaculture; UTAS, environmental studies and the environmental political movement; UTAS and the arts, TMAG, QVMAG, MONA, our TSO and festivals; UTAS and the earth, with CODES and Sam Carey’s ideas on continental drift; UTAS and our Physics telescope; the Australian Maritime College; our distinguished alumni; and, constantly returning to our UTAS student life and experience. The Steering Committee recognised the need for stories that reflected the significant changes since the 1990 Centenary Celebrations in growth, governance changes, the Alumni Association, the expanding work of our Foundation. By the end of 2013, we had ideas on our themes and had prepared several drafts of a CELEBRATING 125 YEARS - OUR UTAS HISTORY: Developing a shared plan. Early in Page 4 of 434 2014, we added additional themes of internationalisation; our Faculties/ Schools; new campuses; global connectivity; UTAS contribution to Tasmania's economy and cultural life. There was also an appendix with a reference to a possible development of ‘A Democracy Precinct’ to acknowledge Andrew Inglis Clark, an early Vice-Chancellor of our University, but more famously recognised as ‘the primary architect of our Constitution’. A revised draft was retitled CELEBRATING 125 YEARS in 125 UTAS STORIES and presented to the inaugural 125th Advisory Committee meeting held in February 2014 and chaired by Professor David Rich, This meeting made a number of suggestions that further refined the final project brief. Helpfully, this inaugural meeting approved ‘The ‘125 Stories’ concept…rather than a conventional update of the Davis history’. The 125 Stories project was accepted in principle at this meeting. 3. The Final Plan This revised draft was further developed. During this period, the Steering Committee met with Dr Alison Alexander and viewed website timelines and material from the University of Western Australia and the University of York, UK. A final Version 6, dated 6 May 2014 became the final draft of the 125 Stories plan. The acronym, UTAS was replaced by the more mellifluous full title of the University. This final plan, CELEBRATING 125 YEARS in 125 University of Tasmania STORIES systematically listed the broad range of story areas to be covered, namely, History of UTAS; Disciplines; Research; Creative Arts; The University Globally; The University, Tasmania and Australia; Our Community; Our People; The Student Experience Importantly, the Steering Committee had also been preparing a list of some 70 potential storywriters and another list of Heads of Schools and Administrative Divisions and Sections to be invited to present their reflections on University life and in the broad themes of the Plan. The final Plan also included expected outputs, principally a 125th Anniversary Stories Book along with a dedicated website for the UTAS 125 Stories and material collected during the 125 UTAS Stories Project. An e-book version of Richard Davis's Open to Talent the centenary history was proposed and is now freely accessible on-line. Rather ambitiously, the Steering Committee aimed to encourage Exhibitions, modelled on work by Gillian Ward, of collected materials, exhibits and photographs and contributions from colleagues and Alumni. The 125th Advisory Committee organised these exhibitions amongst the enormous number of 125 celebrations held around the state and internationally. 4. The 125 Stories Project. While awaiting advice about administrative support, the Steering Committee sent the first invitations in late May 2014 and continued through to the end of the year. The Steering Committee had invited and aimed to receive some submissions by the end of November. As expected at this busy time in the academic year, many storytellers asked for extensions until early 2015. During the first months of 2014, as the invitations were issued, the Steering Committee was fortunate to have advice from Amanda Wojtowicz on a range of matters. She joined the Steering Committee in June and her advice and wealth of knowledge were invaluable as the project developed and new story ideas were presented. As the project got underway and gained momentum and the pages opened on the 125 Website, some stories began to be submitted online. The Steering Committee began to receive offers of stories. Helpfully, the Alumni Association, the 125th Advisory Committee and the many 125 Anniversary publications promoted the 125 Stories Project and story offers flowed. With the Page 5 of 434 start of the many 125 events in January 2015, each event became another fertile opportunity to publicise the 125 Stories Project and receive story offers. By the end of February 2015, some 160 invitations had been issued. In addition, and most pleasingly, the Steering Committee started to receive regular offers of stories. With the appointment of Dr Bronwyn Meikle at the end of August 2014, the Project had a dedicated and superbly committed Project Officer able to follow up on the progress of stories and to commission others. Our target of 125 stories was far exceeded with nearly 170 eventually received and uploaded to the dedicated website 125 Stories page launched in January 2015.