John Hay

John Hay

Biography

Professor Emeritus John Hay AC (1942-2016) was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland from 1996 to 2007. During this period a number of world-class research institutes were built in Queensland, with funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies, Queensland Government Smart State monies and the Australian Government.

Born in Perth in 1942, John Hay attended Perth Modern School before completing Degrees in English Literature from the University of Western Australia and Cambridge University.  In 1967 he began lecturing in English Literature at the University of Western Australia, becoming a Professor in 1980. In 1987 he accepted a position as Dean of Arts with Monash University, and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor a year later. In 1992 he accepted the Vice-Chancellor role at Deakin University.  While there he oversaw Deakin’s successful expansion into several regional campus sites, as he did with the University of Queensland’s later expansions to campuses at Gatton, Herston and Ipswich. Both Deakin (1995) and UQ (1998) under Hay’s leadership were named University of the Year by the Australian Good Universities Guide. In his first year as UQ’s Vice-Chancellor in 1996, Hay instigated a significant administrative restructuring and streamlining of the University’s faculties. At the end of 1996 he announced plans to establish an Institute for Molecular Bioscience at UQ, in a multi-million dollar partnership with the Queensland Government, the Australian Government and the then-anonymous Atlantic Philanthropies. The IMB, opened in 2003 as part of the new Queensland Biosciences Precinct in collaboration with the CSIRO, was the first of a number of research institutes established over the following decade at UQ and elsewhere, with the University partnering with Peter Beattie’s Queensland Government and Chuck Feeney’s Atlantic Philanthropies. Hay’s partnership with Feeney in particular led also to the architectural and artistic enhancement of UQ’s St Lucia campus, with the American philanthropist donating several million dollars towards the conversion of the University’s Mayne Hall into the James and Mary Amelia Mayne Centre, housing the new UQ Art Museum. While Vice-Chancellor at UQ, Hay gained appointments as Chair of the Group of Eight leading Australian universities and Chair of Universitas 21, an association of research-intensive international universities. He was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2003 for his services to higher education, was made a Companion in the Order of Australia (AC) in 2004, a Smart State Ambassador by Premier Peter Beattie in 2005 and a Queensland Great in 2007. After his retirement as UQ’s Vice-Chancellor at the end of 2007, the University conferred on Hay the title of Professor Emeritus and awarded him an honorary doctorate of laws. He continued to serve on a number of corporate and cultural institution boards, in areas ranging from performing arts to economic development to medical research and scientific innovation, until his death in 2016.