Robert Castle - University of Wollongong

Honorary Doctor of Letters and Emeritus Professor

Citation delivered by Professor Paul Wellings, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong on the occasion of the admission of Robert Gordon Castle to the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) and as an Emeritus Professor of the University on 20 July 2012.

Deputy Chancellor, on behalf of the University, I have the honour to present to you Robert Gordon Castle.

Over 40 years ago, Rob Castle was selected for a role at a small regional college beneath the slopes of Mt Keira. Rob was to become a leading player in that college’s transformation into an internationally recognised university and he is recognised today as a continuing part of UOW’s story. In another field that Rob knows and loves well, a great performer, Maria Callas, once said it all for him: “An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house”.

In 1970, before the curtain rose, Rob Castle joined the original University College as a senior lecturer in Economics. He took an active part in the movement for autonomy and helped to shape the identity of the new University of Wollongong. In the critical years from the early 1990s, Rob moved to leading roles as Chair of Academic Senate, Dean of Commerce, Director of International Programs and, finally, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). He presided over the University’s ascendancy to a level of learning and teaching excellence, coveted both in Australia and overseas.

Rob Castle realised the vision of a multi-campus university. His foresight and astute political judgement steered the successful development of UOW’s onshore network of campuses at Shoalhaven, Bateman’s Bay, Bega, the Southern Highlands and Southern Sydney. His insights into the challenges of collaboration across different sites and cultures were critical for building our off-shore presence, especially at UOW Dubai.

Throughout, Rob enforced academic quality – the bedrock for accreditation and growth at UOWD and for the University’s reputation as a partner at other off-shore sites. Rob is admired and valued from Abu Dhabi to Denver for his knowledge and advice in international education. All this is matched by a very practical attribute that has greatly benefitted UOW’s development: Rob’s energy and resilience as an international traveller.

Rob Castle steered UOW successfully through two major quality audits and oversaw the development of its recent Strategic Plans. Anchoring and informing his role has been his continuing contribution as a researcher and scholar. The author and co-author of books and numerous refereed articles, Rob is a recognised authority and writer in labour economics and history as well as in tertiary learning and teaching. The academic community recognise him as one of their own.

Rob’s wry humour and generosity with his time have characterised his work with all his colleagues. His units report to him with loyalty and genuine affection and his peers among Australian university executives relish his views. The students Rob has taught personally have enjoyed an expert, entertaining and energetic teacher. He has, above all, worked to improve access for all students and to give them the best chance to succeed through high quality teaching and support.

Members of the wider community have found in Rob Castle someone who understands their regions and especially their aspirations for higher education and economic development. Again, he has been seen as someone who shares their experience and understands their history.

Deputy Chancellor, Rob Castle has made an enduring contribution to this University’s special culture. His personality has helped to shape in its down-to earth approach and ability to come down the straight and win on the day.

On behalf of the University community – his colleagues and students – I am proud and privileged to present Robert Gordon Castle for the highest honours of his University.

Deputy Chancellor, for his contribution to higher education in this University as well as nationally and internationally, I present him for the award of Doctor of Letters honoris causa. For his contribution to his discipline and his academic leadership, I present him for admission as an Emeritus Professor of the University of Wollongong.

Honorary Doctor of Science

Citation delivered by Professor Judy Raper, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Wollongong on the occasion of the admission of Tom Henning Johansen as a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) on 18 December 2013.

This evening we celebrate the achievements of an internationally renowned researcher who has become a partner and a friend of the University of Wollongong. Professor Tom Johansen is an international authority on magneto-optical imaging in regard to superconductors, magnetic materials, and bio-magnetic applications. He has made critical contributions to the advancement of research into superconductors and superconductivity and has been in partnership with the University of Wollongong’s Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials for the past 15 years. During this, he has been dedicated to the establishment and operation of a state-of-the-art magneto-optical imaging facility.

This is a very complicated field. The expertise that Tom Johansen has provided has been invaluable in building an outstanding research culture, bringing knowledge and skills which he has generously shared with UOW research students and Institute members. He has been a distinguished mentor for Institute staff members; on numerous occasions assisting the Institute to promote new collaborations, strengthen existing projects, and achieve outstanding research results in this field.

Professor Johansen has been a principal investigator on several Commonwealth funded research projects and participated extensively in student exchange programs. His contribution was recognised by the Australian Research Council in 2009 when he was granted an International Fellowship. Recently, he contributed to the establishment of the Institute’s Clean Room, and has fostered new research in the investigation of cancer treatment technologies.

From early in life, Tom Johansen was fascinated by science and how human beings can interact with and influence their environment. He read enthusiastically about the Scott-Amundsen race to the South Pole and watched the moon-landing, gaining an appreciation of how small steps lead to big achievements. He was also captivated by fossils captured in rocks and the faceted beauty of crystals and this curiosity led him to pursue a life in science.

Some of Professor Johansen’s earliest work on magnetic levitation was highlighted in Nature Magazine and he was awarded the 1993 Norwegian IBM Prize in Solid State Physics for this research. In 2003 his work using magneto-optical imaging was directly connected to the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics and he has collaborated with 1987 Nobel Laureate K. Alex Mueller working on high temperature superconductivity.

Professor Johansen is a member of the Norwegian/European Physical Society, American Physics Society and is elected fellow of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and The Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters. He has been organiser and co-organizer of numerous symposia, conferences and international meetings. His publication portfolio of more than 815 publications is a tremendous achievement.

Since first visiting Australia in 1998, and Wollongong in 2004, Professor Johansen has become a valued colleague and an enthusiastic guide for staff and students. Chancellor, it is my honour and privilege to present Tom Henning Johansen for the award Doctor of Science, honoris causa.