Margaret Alison Telfer OBE
(1904 - 1974)
BA DipEd Hon DLitt
Registrar: 1955 - 1967
- University of Sydney Archives
Margaret Alison Telfer, University of Sydney Registrar, was born on 21 October 1904 at Lismore, New South Wales.
She attended Tamworth and Newcastle High schools, and entered Women's College, University of Sydney (BA, 1925; DipEd, 1926). Involved in student societies, she held office in the University Women's Sports Association and enjoyed skiing.
After serving as Secretary of the Sydney University Women's Union from 1926, Miss Telfer was appointed adviser to women students in 1939. She became Deputy Assistant Registrar in 1944, Assistant Registrar in 1947 and Deputy Registrar in 1950.
When Margaret Telfer accepted the University Senate's offer of the position of Registrar in August 1955, she was the first woman to hold a top administrative post in any Commonwealth university. In 1956 she studied administration and student services in British and North American universities. On her return she faced challenges arising from increased student numbers, demands from departments and faculties, and pressures that flowed from the implementation of Sir Keith Murray's report (1957) on Australian universities. She tried to keep a balance between the Senate, the administration, the professorial and non-professorial staff, and the students.
A member (1940-55) of the Board of Social Studies, Telfer was appointed (1953) to the committee, chaired by (Sir) Harold Wyndham, that surveyed secondary education in New South Wales. She was a council-member (1940-59 and 1963-69) of Women's College, a trustee (1966-69) and council-member (1969-74) of the Public Library of New South Wales, president of the Sydney University Women Graduates' Association (1945-47) and of the Australian Federation of University Women (1958-60), and a member (1967-74) of the Parole Board, New South Wales. In 1960 she was appointed OBE. The University of Sydney conferred on her an honorary DLitt in 1969.
Telfer was readily available to staff and students who sought her help, advice, and knowledge of university rules and procedures. Colleagues affectionately remembered her 'gentle wit and humour and the quiet authority with which she expressed her views'.
She died of a coronary occlusion on 24 May 1974 at her Wollstonecraft home.
Information source: Australian Dictionary of Biography
Click here for a fuller biography from the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
