Raymond Martin (academic)

Infobox University President


width = 150px
name =Raymond Leslie Martin AO


caption =
order =3rd
university =Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University
term_start =1977
term_end =1987
birth_date =Birth date and age|1926|2|3|mf=y
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
predecessor =William Scott
successor =Mal Logan AC
alumnus =University of Melbourne
University of Cambridge
Australian National University
residence =
profession =Professor
religion =
salary =
spouse =
children =
website =
footnotes =|

Raymond Leslie Martin AO (born February 3 1926) was an Australian chemistry professor and university administrator. He was Vice-Chancellor of Monash University from 1977-1987.

Early life

Martin grew up in Sydney, where he attended North Sydney Boys High School, before moving to Melbourne to attend Scotch College. His tertiary education was at the University of Melbourne and the University of Cambridge. He was an outstanding student, receiving numerous prizes and scholarships. He gained two doctorates from Cambridge and one doctorate from the Australian National University, all in chemistry.

Professional career

In the 1950s, Martin was appointed lecturer at the University of New South Wales, before being appointed professor of chemistry at Melbourne University at just 36 years of age. [ [http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/umfs/biogs/UMFS059b.htm Martin, Raymond Leslie - Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne Biographical entry ] ] During this time, he worked in private industry, and was also a visiting scholar at Columbia University. In 1972, he moved to ANU, where he was Dean of the Research School of Chemistry.

In 1977, Martin was appointed the third Vice-Chancellor of Monash University. The position was originally intended to go to a British academic, Lord John Vaizey. However, negotiations between Vaizey and the University broke down after Vaizey's demands became increasingly outlandish.Fact|date=January 2008 As a result, the position went to Martin, after founding Dean of Arts Bill Scott filled the vacancy for a year.

His leadership at Monash consolidated the extraordinary growth achieved by the University. In a sense, his vice-chancellorship was much quieter than the pioneering of Louis Matheson or the massive expansion of Mal Logan. This was partly because funding for Australian universities slowed during his tenure, while no major educational reforms were made by Australian governments.

When he stepped down from the lead role at Monash, he worked as a professor of chemistry at the University, before moving to Canberra to work in the Prime Minister's Department as Chair of the Australian Science and Technology Council. [ [http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P004090b.htm Martin, Raymond Leslie - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry ] ]

References