Malcolm Ian Logan (3 June 1931 – 17 September 2022) was an Australian geographer and university administrator. He was Vice-Chancellor of

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 ...

from 1987 to 1996. Logan grew up in country

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, attending secondary school in the remote town of Tamworth. He moved to Sydney to complete an honours degree in geography at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, which he finished in 1951. After spending some time as a teacher in secondary schools, he returned to Sydney to complete his PhD and take up a position as Professor of Geography and Urban Planning. He then spent time at a range of universities overseas, living in the US and Nigeria. Later in his career, he became involved in both the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

as an adviser on urban planning. In 1971, Sir Louis Matheson, then vice-chancellor of

, invited Logan to take up a professorship the university. Although Logan knew little about Monash at the time, he wanted to return to Australia and chose the university because it seemed "the liveliest and brightest place". Once there, he quickly rose through the administrative ranks, first as pro vice-chancellor and then, in 1987, he was appointed vice-chancellor. His leadership at Monash marked the most drastic expansion of a university in Australian history. Prompted by the Dawkins reforms, Logan aggressively pursued Monash's takeover of a number of tertiary institutions. He was attracted to the notion of a "multiversity", similar to big state universities in the US such as the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. Monash went from one campus in Clayton with 20,000 students, to six Victorian campuses with 40,000 students. Through Logan's close personal relationships with members of the Hawke and Keating governments, he was able to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to develop the new campuses. Logan argued that Australia's future lay in Asia. Consequently, he established a Monash teaching presence in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Laos. He also oversaw the considerable increase in international students at Monash, particularly from Asia. He established the university's link with the Sunway Group, a relationship which led to the establishment of a Monash Malaysia Campus in 1998. With the increased inflow of international students, Monash's income increased dramatically, such that its annual reports were often discussed in financial newspapers. Reportedly, Logan was fond of citing the fact that Monash's annual budget was greater than the state of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

's. Logan retired in 1996. In that year's Australia Day Honours List he was appointed a

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 ...

(AC), the highest honour which can be awarded to an Australian citizen, "for service to education, business and the arts, particularly through raising international awareness of Australian higher education services, and for promoting cooperation between countries". Simon Marginson, ''Monash: Remaking the University'', Allen & Unwin, 2000, pp. 76-77

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Logan, Mal 1931 births 2022 deaths Australian geographers Companions of the Order of Australia Academic staff of Monash University University of Sydney alumni People from Tamworth, New South Wales Vice-chancellors of Monash University