(1891-1962)
John
Medley, succeeding Raymond Priestley in 1938 as Vice-Chancellor, was
elected by the narrowest of margins, a single vote separating him from
Professor Douglas Copland.
Despite his Establishment background and Oxford degree, he might have
seemed an odd choice for the position, having, after service in Flanders
during the First World War, worked in the family business of Antony
Gibbs & Sons and its Australian branch, Gibbs, Bright & Co., before
taking over as Headmaster of Tudor House, a preparatory school at Moss
Vale, NSW.
In fact, he surprised his supporters as much as his opponents, demonstrating,
despite his membership of exclusive clubs and acquaintance with the
political and social elite, a considerable radicalism in his conduct
of University business. Within a short time of his appointment, the
long-running dispute between the professors and council over who should
exercise executive control was resolved, the Chancellor, Sir James Barrett
had been replaced and authority had shifted decisively to the professors.
By the time he resigned in 1951, the University had been transformed.
Medley chaired the Vice-Chancellors’ Committee for 10 years and one
of his greatest achievements came late in his career – negotiating the
agreement of the newly-elected Prime Minister Robert Menzies to academic
salary increases which saved other universities from decline after the
establishment of the ANU, which was then offering superior pay and conditions.
Medley was active and well-known in all aspects of Australian cultural
life – on the Board of the ABC, the National Gallery and the Public
Library – and his 500 weekly pieces on the front page of the Age Literary
Supplement brought him an army of admirers for his civilised and tolerant
views, his defence of free speech and correct English and his occasional
forays into verse. He is probably not the only Vice-Chancellor who felt
as he did at six o’clock, but he is probably the only one to have expressed
his feelings so cogently:
I thank Thee, Lord, for every Prof.
Who lives a very long way off.
They’re sneaking homeward, one by one:
Now we can get some business done!
Just think (how horrible it sounds)
If everyone lived in the Grounds!
