Chancellors

Emeritus Professor Dame Leonie Kramer AC DBE

(1924- )

BA Melb DPhil Oxf HonDLitt Tas HonLLD Melb&ANU HonDLitt Qld&UNSW DUniv GUPSSt Petersburg MA, FACE FAHA
Fellow of Senate 1969-1974, 1989-2001
Deputy Chancellor 1989-1991
Chancellor 1991-2001

Dame Leonie Kramer was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies College, Melbourne, the University of Melbourne, where she gained a Bachelor of Arts in 1945, and Oxford University where she gained a Doctor of Philosophy in 1953. During her postgraduate years at Oxford she tutored at St Hughes College.

She was appointed Lecturer in English in 1958, then Senior Lecture and finally Associate Professor in English at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She remained at UNSW until 1968 when she was appointed Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney. She was Visiting Professor at Harvard University’s Chair of Australian Literature Studies from 1981-82. She is an Emeritus Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney.

A major focus of her critical writing has been the works of Henry Handel Richardson. She also edited the Oxford History of Australian Literature (1981).

Dame Leonie Kramer has served on numerous public bodies during her long career. These include appointment to the Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1982-83), having served as a member of the ABC Board since 1977, the Secondary Schools Board (1976-82), the Council of the National Library (1975-81), the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (1977-81) and the Universities Council (1977-86). Other appointments include serving as a Senior Fellow of the Institute of Public Affairs (1988-96), Commissioner of the NSW Electricity Commission (1988-95) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of NIDA (1987-92). She has also served on the boards of large corporations including Western Mining Corporation and ANZ Banking Group.

In 1986 she received the Inaugural Britannica Award for the ‘dissemination of learning for the benefit of mankind’. Other awards include an honorary DLitt from the University of Tasmania, an honorary LLD from both the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University. She was appointed OBE in 1976 and DBE in 1983.

Dame Leonie Kramer was Deputy Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1989-91 and Chancellor from 1991-2001.