MEDIA RELEASE
NEWS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA
DATE: 13 OCTOBER 2011
Death of Emeritus Professor Phillip Hughes, AO,
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania has recognised the contribution to education of Emeritus Professor Phillip Hughes AO, who died yesterday.
"Phillip Hughes is a truly distinguished Tasmanian and an outstanding graduate of the University of Tasmania," Professor Peter Rathjen said.
"He was Tasmanian Rhodes Scholar for 1947, and his career, both before and after his official retirement in 1991, illustrates his commitment to the ideals of Rhodes Scholarship, to the University of Tasmania and to education in Australia and internationally."
The current Dean of Education, Professor Ian Hay, said Prof. Hughes was a significant educator who played a leading role in developing and extending year 11 and 12 education in Tasmania and Canberra.
"As head of the Department of Teacher Education at UTAS, as it was then, Prof. Hughes also worked in partnership with the Education Department to establish the first systematic professional development program where working Tasmanian teachers could study to upgrade their teaching qualifications to Bachelor and Master of Education degrees," he said.
Phillip Hughes was the initial principal of the Hobart Teachers College before being appointed Tasmania's Deputy Director General of Education, a post he held from 1965 to 1969.
He then moved to Canberra as head of the School of Education at the Canberra College of Advanced Education, introducing the first 4 year Bachelor of Education degree in the country. Between 1973 -1977 he was also Foundation Chairman of the ACT Schools Authority, the first new education system in Australia since Federation.
He returned again to Tasmania in 1981 as Professor of Teacher Education, a post he held until his retirement in 1991.
Professor Hughes was chairman of the university's Professorial Board during the important negotiations for amalgamation between the university and the Tasmanian State Institute of Technology (TSIT).
In 1990 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
During his career Phillip Hughes has served the community locally, nationally and internationally. He was a member of the Higher Education Mission to the South Pacific in 1965 that led to the foundation of the University of the South Pacific. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Illinois, Arizona State University, University of London, and Clare Hall, Cambridge. He has been active in the work of UNESCO in Thailand, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, the Phillipines, the Republic of Korea and in China. After retiring he remained Chairman of the Tasmanian Education Consortium.
In 1993 he worked for the OECD in Paris analysing and reporting on curriculum trends in the 24 member countries. In 1993-1995 he worked as a consultant for UNESCO in Bangkok, developing a three year basic program on education for the Asia-Pacific Region.
Professor Hughes has been evaluation consultant to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, consultant to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Principals' Centre in Melbourne.
In 1995 the University of Tasmania awarded Prof. Hughes an honorary Doctor of Medicine for his contribution to the re-accreditation of the School of Medicine.
Information Released by:
The Media Office, University of Tasmania
Phone: 63243218 or Mob. 0438 510616
Email: Media.Office@utas.edu.au