The Hon Alex Chernov AO QC BCom Melb. LLB Melb.
The Hon. Alex Chernov is the 20th Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. As Chancellor, Mr Chernov works closely with the Vice-Chancellor, chairs the 21-member University of Melbourne Council, the governing body of the University and its major governance committees, presides at University graduation ceremonies and represents the University at many public functions.
Mr Chernov was born in Lithuania and, with his Russian parents, immigrated to Australia as a young boy. He was educated at Melbourne High School and at the University of Melbourne where he gained the degrees of BCom and LLB (Hons). After graduating, he was a part-time tutor at Ormond and Newman Colleges and at Monash University.
In 1968 Mr Chernov signed the Roll of Counsel at the Victorian Bar and in 1980 was appointed Queens Counsel. He practised almost exclusively in commercial and company law and equity, appearing in the Supreme Courts in most states and the Supreme Court of Fiji, at trial and appellate levels, and before the High Court of Australia and the Privy Council.
Whilst a barrister Alex Chernov played a significant role in the leadership of the legal profession and legal education in Australia and in our region. Between 1971 and 1975 he was the Independent Lecturer in Equity for the Council of Legal Education and, between 1985 and 1987 was an Honorary Consultant to the Australian Law Reform Commission. He is the co-author of Brooking and Chernov, Tenancy Law and Practice in Victoria, and the editor of its second edition. During 1985 and 1986 he was the Chairman of the Victorian Bar and Vice President of the Australian Bar Association. Between 1990 and 1991 he was President of the Australian Law Council and was Vice President of LawAsia between 1995 and 1997. He was also a member of the Council of the Presbyterian Ladies College between 1981 and 1990 and Chairman of the Australian Motor Sport Court of Appeal between 1985 and 1997.
In 1997 Alex Chernov was appointed a Judge of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria and in 1998 was appointed to its Court of Appeal. In 1992 he became a member of the Council of the University of Melbourne and chaired a number of its major committees. In 2004 he was elected a Deputy Chancellor of the University of Melbourne and is now its Chancellor. In 2008 Alex Chernov was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.
Mr Chernov and his wife, Elizabeth, who is also a Law graduate of the University, have three children and six grandchildren. Their children are all graduates of the University of Melbourne.Staff Contact details
8th Floor, Raymond Priestley Building
Executive Assistant
Ms Rori Kenny
Phone: +61 3 8344 6167
Fax: +61 3 9347 5904
Email: r.kenny@ unimelb.edu.au