Vale Alan Robson AO, educator, innovator and great friend to many
1 November 2024
Emeritus Professor Alan Robson AO, educator, innovator and great friend to many in higher education circles and beyond, died on October 30, 2024.
Professor Robson, as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia (UWA), was the driving force behind the establishment of the Australian Universities’ Consortium, an alliance of leading universities that funds scholarships each year under the John Monash Scholarships Program.
The Foundation is deeply grateful for the leadership that Professor Robson showed as a Director of the General Sir John Monash Foundation (5 October 2011 to 30 November 2021), a Western Australian Selection Panel member (2015 to 2022) and an online reviewer (2022 to 2023).
With an unswerving passion for quality in the context of fairness and equity, it was Professor Robson who developed and introduced the concept of a Wildcard Panel that would consider candidates that were worthy of greater consideration before the completion of the list of candidates for annual state and territory panels. Almost every year, a wildcard applicant wins a John Monash Scholarship, thanks to Professor Robson’s vision.
Jillian Segal AO, Chairman of the General Sir John Monash Foundation, worked closely with Professor Robson in those years and remembers him as a wise, gentle and inspiring leader. “Alan was a special leader. Not only was his advice always considered and insightful but he had a special gift for spotting future leadership potential in students. He combined this gift with a generous and gentle nature which ensures he will be remembered with great fondness and respect by all who had the good fortune to know him.”
Wendy Simpson OAM, Foundation Board member, said Professor Robson was a great contributor to the Foundation and to Australia. “He really did make sure that Western Australian students knew about the John Monash Scholarship. He knew many of the state’s high achievers personally. He was a great man, deeply respected.”
These thoughts were echoed by Emeritus Professor Paul Wellings CBE, Deputy Chairman of the Foundation, who remembered Professor Robson as a great champion for the sciences. “This is a great loss for Australia.”
A tribute on the UWA’s website says Professor Robson served as the university’s Vice-Chancellor from 2004 to 2011 and, although retired for many years, remained connected to the university throughout his retirement.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Amit Chakma said that during his eight years as Vice-Chancellor and 11 years as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Robson had been recognised as an outstanding leader, friend and mentor to many, attending more than 180 graduation ceremonies and witnessing more than 65,000 students graduate.
“Professor Robson was also highly regarded by our staff and the wider community for his commitment to ensuring the university was a place where diversity was recognised and celebrated,” Professor Chakma said.
“Under his guidance, UWA strived to provide an inclusive environment for staff, students and community members.”
Professor Robson served as Chair of the Group of Eight from 2007 to 2010, Deputy Chair of the Council of the National Library for seven years, Deputy Chair of Universities Australia for three years and was a member of the Western Australian Science Council and the CSIRO Board for many years.
His previous roles at UWA included Foundation Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture; Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, and Head of the School of Agriculture and Professor of Agriculture (Soil Science); and Hackett Chair in Agriculture until his retirement.
The 2017 establishment of the annual Robson and Robertson Award acknowledged emeritus professors Robson and Alistar Robertson for their integral role in the establishment of UWA’s Oceans Institute.
Professor Robson was a lifelong advocate for science, as he demonstrated in an interview with the Western Australian Marine Science Institution in 2014: “Science is a great career. Whether it’s marine science or agricultural science or whichever science you choose, you get to travel the world, do stimulating things, meet good people, solve real-world problems . . . everything we do depends on science, and we’ve always got to keep looking at smarter ways of doing things.”