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2006 Media Releases

Award of the degree Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) to Professor Michael John Osborne

One of the world’s top classical archaeologists, humanities scholars and leading figure in the internationalisation of Australian higher education during the past decade, former La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor, Michael Osborne, will be awarded an honorary doctorate of letters today, Wednesday, 29 November 2006.

The award recognises his work as a scholar and educationist, his role in developing co-operative academic relations between Australia, Greece and the Peoples Republic of China, and his contributions to the enhancement of La Trobe University.

Professor Osborne’s academic achievements – which have transformed our understanding of Hellenistic Athens – have been honoured internationally. He is a Laureate of the Belgian Royal Academy, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) USA.

A Member of the Academy of Athens, he is also an Alexander Onassis Research Fellow and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

In 1998 the Government of Greece honoured him with the Aristotle Award for services to Hellenic Studies; in 2000 the Republic of Cyprus awarded him an Honorary Distinction for his contributions to the understanding and promotion of Hellenism. In Australia he has been awarded the Centenary Medal and the Niki Award.

During his Presidency of La Trobe University, Professor Osborne served as the Chair of the International Committee of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee from 1997 to 2004 and led missions to many countries in that capacity.

He pioneered the International Network of Universities, providing global mobility programs for students and staff, and served as President of this organisation from 2000 until his retirement at the end of 2005.

Professor Osborne was President and Chair of the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) scheme, and Australian representative for the Global University Network for Innovation: Asia and the Pacific (GUNI-AP), established by UNESCO.

He also led development of co-operative relations between universities in China and Australia. Since 2003 he has been a Guest Professor at Peking University and recently became co-president of a Centre for Hellenic Studies at the Beijing Foreign Studies University.

In 2005 he created at La Trobe the Peking University – La Trobe University – Beijing Foreign Studies University Centre for China Studies.

In awarding the honour, La Trobe University Chancellor, Mrs Sylvia Walton said ‘Professor Osborne led major change at the University over a distinguished 16 year period.’

‘Of the many initiatives introduced over this time some of the more notable include the establishment of the Health Sciences Complex, the La Trobe University Medical Centre, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Research and Development Park, the development of the Mont Park site, and the relocation of the prestigious Research Centre for Linguistic Typology to La Trobe University, the National Centre for Hellenic Studies and Research and oversaw the creation of the regional arm of the University’.

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

Professor Osborne was born in Eastbourne, UK and studied at Christ Church, Oxford University, achieving a Bachelor of Arts (First Class) and a Master of Arts in Literae Humaniores. He received a Doctorate of Philosophy and Letters (summa cum laude) from the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven (Belgium) and held successive positions in Classics at the University of Bristol and at the University of Lancaster, in the UK.

By the late 1970s he was a leading authority in Greek History and Epigraphy internationally, holding visiting professorships in several European and North American universities and gaining membership of the prestigious Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.

His fieldwork in Athens set the foundations for his seminal contributions to Greek History and Epigraphy. In 1982 he was appointed Professor and Head of Classical Studies at the University of Melbourne and in 1988 became a Vice-President of that University. In 1990 he became Vice-Chancellor and President of La Trobe University.

His first major work, Naturalization in Athens, is regarded as the definitive model for the restoration of inscriptions and for the interpretation of their contents. In 1994 with Sean Byrne he produced a major study of the inhabitants of Ancient Athens, entitled A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names – Attica. In 1995, again with Sean Byrne, he published The Foreign Residents of Athens.

In 1999, Professor Osborne was elected a foundation member of the International Advisory Committee for the publication of all the inscriptions of Ancient Athens, and co-editor of the volume dealing with Athens in the third century BC.

Recently he has also undertaken research in Chinese history and is chief editor of the series entitled Documents Illustrating the Diplomatic Relations Between China and Foreign Countries in the Qing Dynasty: Correspondence Between China and Great Britain.