John Anthony Hay (21 September 1942 – 3 November 2016) was an Australian academic. He was Vice-Chancellor of

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

and the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

from 1996 to 2007.

Early life

Hay was born on 21 September 1942 in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He attended

Perth Modern School Perth Modern School (colloquially known as Perth Mod) is a public co-educational academically selective high school, located in Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Perth Modern is Western Australia's only fully academica ...

Education

Hay studied at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and then at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

where he was a Hackett Research Scholar. He was awarded a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D., all in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Academic positions

Hay held the following academic appointments: *Chair of English and Head of the department in the

*Dean of Arts and Chair of the National Key Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University. *Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor,

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 ...

, Australia from 1988 to 1991 *Vice-Chancellor and President,

, Australia from 1992 to 1995. *Hay was Vice-Chancellor and President of the

between 1996 and 2007 *Chair of

Universitas 21 Universitas 21 (U21) is an international network of research-intensive universities. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 1997 with 11 members, it has grown to include twenty-nine member universities in nineteen countries and territories. The uni ...

, a consortium of comprehensive, research-intensive international universities in 2003. *Chair of the

Group of Eight The Group of Eight (G8) was an intergovernmental political forum from 1997 to 2014, formed by incorporating Russia into the G7. The G8 became the G7 again after Russia was expelled in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea. The forum ...

between January 2002 and May 2003. *Chair of the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.

Career highlights

In 1995, during his term as vice-chancellor at Deakin University, the university was named Australia's University of the Year by the Good Universities Guide. In March 1998, during his term as vice-chancellor at the University of Queensland, Hay met with American businessman and philanthropist

Chuck Feeney Charles Francis Feeney (April 23, 1931 – October 9, 2023) was an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune as a co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group, the travel retailer of luxury products based in Hong Kong. He wa ...

at the Irish Club in Brisbane to discuss fund raising for the university's research. Hay made an arrangement with the

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Rob Borbidge Robert Edward Borbidge (born 12 August 1954) is a former Australian politician who served as the 35th Premier of Queensland from 1996 to 1998. He was the leader of the Queensland branch of the National Party, and was the last member of that p ...

, that the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

would match the gift offered by Feeney to create a major biosciences precinct at the university. Although there was a change of government in Queensland in the June 1998 election, the new Premier,

Peter Beattie Peter Douglas Beattie (born 18 November 1952) is an Australian former politician who served as the 36th Premier of Queensland, in office from 1998 to 2007. He was the state leader of the Labor Party from 1996 to 2007. Beattie was born in Syd ...

, was also enthusiastic to support Hay's plans for the university as part of Beattie's Smart State initiative. With the support of Feeney and Beattie, Hay established the Institute for Molecular Biology, the

Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology University of Queensland, The University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) was established in 2003. It is one of four stand-alone research institutions at the university with more than 500 research ...

, the Queensland Brain Institute, the Centre for Clinical Research, and the Translational Research Institute. He also established sustainable mining and supercomputing research facilities. During his tenure at the

, he led initiatives to improve the aesthetics of the university campus with many of the new buildings receiving architectural awards. He established the UQ Centre, a multifunctional building which can be used for a wide range of academic, cultural and sporting events, such as graduation ceremonies, exhibitions, conferences and banquets. As Mayne Hall was then no longer needed for graduations, Hay used funding from Feeney's

Atlantic Philanthropies The Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) was a private foundation created in 1982 by American businessman Chuck Feeney. The Atlantic Philanthropies focused its giving on health, social, and politically left-leaning public policy causes in Australia, Berm ...

, to refurbish Mayne Hall as the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre Art Gallery, Australia's first national collection of artists' self-portraits. In 1999,

The University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an i ...

was named Australia's University of the Year by the Good Universities Guide. Under Hay's leadership, The University of Queensland advanced to second position in Australia for total competitive research funding.

Later life

Hay retired from the University of Queensland in December 2007. He died on 3 November 2016 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Honours

*Centenary Medallist in 2001 for contributions to Australian higher education. *

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the

2004 Australia Day Honours The 2004 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2004 by the Governor General of Australia, Michael Jeffrey. The Austr ...

. *Honorary doctorates from 5 universities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, John 1942 births 2016 deaths Academic staff of the University of Western Australia Companions of the Order of Australia People educated at Perth Modern School University of Western Australia alumni Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Queensland Greats National Library of Australia Council members Academic staff of Monash University Vice-chancellors of Deakin University