Graeme John Davison, (born 1940) is an Australian historian who is the Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor in the School of Historical Studies at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

. He is best known for his work on Australian urban history. Davison won the prestigious Ernest Scott Prize in 1979 for ''The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne''.

Early life and education

Davison was born to a Methodist family that viewed itself as being of "modest respectability". Davison received a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

where he was a resident at Ormond College and then attended the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

as part of his Rhodes Scholarship. Returned to Australia in the mid-1960s, Davison received his PhD from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

in 1969 for his thesis,''The Rise and Fall of "Marvellous Melbourne" 1880–1895'' under the supervision of John Andrew La Nauze and F. B. Smith. He was married by the time he completed his thesis.

Academic career

Davison turned his doctoral thesis into a book in 1979, which won the Ernest Scott Prize. His supervisor, La Nauze, had won the same prize for a second time in 1973. After teaching at Melbourne University, Davison began lecturing at Monash University in 1982 as the Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor in the School of Historical Studies. In his academic career Davison has written or co-written over ten books, over 30 peer-reviewed articles, 28 book chapters and edited three books. He has developed a reputation as "one of Australia’s leading experts on the elusive notion of national identity". He is often interviewed and his work is quoted in the news media on topics ranging from rural history to the history of home ownership.

Bibliography

Books

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Book reviews

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Graeme 1940 births Living people 20th-century Australian historians 21st-century Australian historians Alumni of the University of Oxford Australian Book Review people Australian National University alumni Historians of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia University of Melbourne alumni Writers from Melbourne