Bruce Gordon

Citation delivered by Professor Gerard Sutton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong on the occasion of the admission of Bruce Gordon to the degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) on 30 September 1999.

Chancellor I present Bruce Gordon.

Bruce Gordon was born in Sydney but spent the holidays of his childhood in Wollongong. Although now a citizen of the world, he still calls this region home and returns here regularly. Bruce has played many parts in his life - theatre manager, television producer and media owner. Although his formal education stopped at fifteen, he has risen to be known as a "Dean" in his industry. Indeed there are strong parallels between Bruce Gordon's achievements and those of this University. Like the University, he began at a regional level. He has since grown by tenacity, canny insight and innate skill to become an international operator and yet he still acknowledges and serves this region as his home and his base.

Bruce Gordon has been associated with icons in Australian theatre and television. He started as a child in the celebrated scouting "gang shows", was involved in troop entertaining during World War II and worked for ten years as the Business Manager of the famous and fabulous Tivoli Theatre in Sydney. While at the Tivoli, he was responsible for bringing shows such as West Side Story to Australia but, by the early medium - television. In 1962, he accepted an offer from one of Hollywood's premier production studios - Desilu - to manage their Sydney office and control their sales in Australia and Asia. His progression was fast and a clear recognition of his talents. After Paramount Studios took over Desilu, Bruce Gordon rose to become its Head of International Sales in New York. He is now regarded as the leading television distribution executive in the world.

Despite his international profile and its demands, Bruce Gordon has always given time to support Australian talent and the Australian film and TV industry. On behalf of Paramount, he purchased the international rights to a number of Australian productions and secured backing for television series, thus boosting the finances, confidence and experience of Australian actors, producers and investors. His more direct involvement came in early 1990 when he acquired another Australian icon - Crawford Productions, the producers of "Homicide" and "The Sullivans"

Significantly for this region, Bruce Gordon purchased a controlling interest in Television Wollongong Transmission Limited from Rupert Murdoch in 1979. This was the beginning of WIN TV which, thanks to Mr Gordon's business skill and vision, is now the largest and highest rating regional broadcaster in Australia with 26 regional television stations covering every state in the country.

Through WIN TV, Bruce Gordon has supported community projects in this region and facilitated the raising of millions of dollars for local charities. He also gave substantial assistance to the establishment of the Illawarra performing Arts Centre and one of its theatres now bears his name. he was a founding member and, for the past five years, has been a trustee of the University of Wollongong Foundation. He has continued to make annual personal donations to the Foundation and WIN TV itself has also made extensive donations in kind to the University, including equipment and archival footage.

Chancellor, Bruce Gordon is an internationally recognised figure in media and production. He is, in many ways, a model for his fellow graduates here today. He is foremost an example of persistence. A pioneer of Australian television, Mr Bruce Gyngell, who has known him for 40 years, observed that "when he sets his mind to something he achieves it". His careers is also an example, for Commerce graduates in particular, of good business practice, of getting to know the customers and their needs and of being prepared to imagine the future and direct chance. For those in education, there is a message about the power of communication technology to convey information and to influence behavior and opinion. For this region and this Unievrsity, Bruce Gordon's career shows that talent and potential can be recognised, even on an international stage. The University today acknowledges his credentials as a world leader in fields which have shaped and will continue to shape our society and its future.

Chancellor, its is my great pleasure to present Bruce Gordon for the award of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.