The Chancellor's column

June 2009

Farewell to Professor Richard Larkins

This month will mark a significant event for all of us in the Monash University community, as we farewell our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Richard Larkins. As anybody who knows him will attest, Richard is modest to a fault and prefers to avoid the spotlight. Having acknowledged that, it would be remiss of me to pass up this opportunity to reflect on what Monash University has achieved under his leadership.

Richard leaves a university that is thriving as a centre for innovative thinking and widely recognized as a great international university.

Between 2003 and 2008, Monash University’s income from competitive research funding almost doubled in size, a clear indication of the calibre of our research. The spread of research across the University has also increased during this time, as reflected in the ever-increasing proportion of research-active academic staff.

This quantitative improvement in Monash University’s research performance has been assisted by the establishment of a suite of world-class core facilities at and around the Clayton campus. As expressed by Richard, the strategic intent behind these is to provide facilities that will enable leading investigators to perform research at Monash that they could not easily conduct elsewhere. Among many others, these facilities include the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Monash Antibody Technologies Facility and the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy. Just as importantly, Monash’s research agenda has been focused on a number of central interdisciplinary themes – sustainability, community cohesion, health, etc. – which ensure that our research is attuned to the wider world around us.

In education, Monash under Richard’s direction has proved no less innovative. Within our lecture halls, tutorial rooms and teaching laboratories, internet and two-way communication technologies are being progressively introduced to make the educational experience more interactive. The launch of the Monash Passport in 2008 clearly articulated a vision of university education committed to excellence and the production of graduates engaged with communities both at home and around the world. That Monash has for the past three years maintained the greatest number of first and total preferences in the VTAC joint selection system suggests that this vision is one that has resonated strongly with students and the community. The Ancora Imparo student leadership program created by the Vice-Chancellor has ensured that Monash will continue to cultivate the voices of future generations.

Building on Monash’s unique presence across four continents – an international reach unparalleled by any other Australian university - has been central to Richard’s agenda in research and education. Recent years have seen the opening of a new, purpose-built campus in Malaysia that has consolidated Monash Sunway as a model of successful transnational education and research. Monash South Africa has developed from its modest beginnings into a burgeoning centre for education and research, recently identified by one high-ranking Australian official as Australia’s most significant partnership with Africa in any sphere. In India, Monash has opened a joint research training institute with the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay. Our Prato centre near Florence, Italy, has blossomed into a busy centre for education and research partnerships with a host of leading European universities. This emphasis on research and education engaged with surrounding communities has been just as apparent at Monash’s Victorian campuses. The opening last year of the Gippsland Medical School, and the growth of the allied health and wellbeing research and education cluster at Peninsula being but two examples.

Of course, all of these achievements have been group efforts, as the Vice-Chancellor would be the first to remind me. This is absolutely true, but even here I give credit to Richard for deliberately surrounding himself with a highly talented, independently motivated group of executive and academic leaders.

The character of Richard’s leadership has been decisive, and is worth dwelling on briefly. At all times, even fresh off the plane in a time zone half way round the world, Richard is able to articulate how the activities mentioned above support and enhance each other. For this vision of Monash as a university that is distinct and charts its own course, and the concomitant sense of pride and integrity across the University as a whole, we can thank our outgoing Vice Chancellor.

A brief digression into Richard’s distinguished career as a medical researcher offers us some insights into his ability to define and articulate his grand visions for our University. Browsing the stacks of the Monash University library reveals that one of Richard’s books is titled, A Practical Approach to Endocrine Disorders. The practical approach has been a hallmark of Richard’s tenure as Vice-Chancellor, as he has laid out a step-by-step plan for how to capitalise on Monash’s unique advantages and aspirations. Another of Richard’s books is titled Clinical Skills: The Medical Interview, Physical Examination and Assessment of the Patient's Problems. This quality – the clinician’s sensitivity and judgement – has been ever apparent in the Vice-Chancellor’s work, from his nuanced judgement of trends in the higher education sector, to his role as an advocate to government and the community, and also in the personal warmth that he brings to his interaction with Monash’s staff and students. It is these qualities that have made the Vice-Chancellor such an inspiring leader not only for the University, but also for the higher education sector, for which he has been a tireless advocate to government and to the community.

On a personal note, I appreciate the manner with which Richard has supported me in my role as Chancellor and always made himself available for discussions and debate. He has guided a management team that has been consistent in its commitment to fully brief, engage and accept the decisions of the University Council.

Looking at what has been achieved by Monash University in recent years, there can be little doubt that great strides have been taken towards the goals that under Richard’s direction were consolidated in the Monash University Statement of Purpose: Monash University seeks to improve the human condition by advancing knowledge and fostering creativity. It does so through research and education and a commitment to social justice, human rights and a sustainable environment.

Throughout his career, and especially as the leader of Monash University, Richard has made a signal contribution towards advancing these values. I have little doubt that in retirement he will continue to exhibit all of those qualities that have marked his successful term as Vice-Chancellor. I wish Richard the fondest of farewells. .

Dr Alan Finkel AM (BE 1976, PhD 1981)
Chancellor
Monash University