Russel Ward – Influence and Inspiration

When Russel came to Armidale in 1957, in early middle age, his diverse southern academic experiences had been uneven in achievement, disrupted by war and disjointed in several other ways, particularly due to his political stances. He was, too, still wrestling with the exasperating pruning of his massive, 700-page thesis — through some sixteen versions — down to the trim Oxford University Press volume, now the classic known as The Australian Legend (1958). Like many other fresh academics in New England opportunely, he would remain for the rest of his working life, to become, finally and worthily, the University's Deputy Chancellor.For some three decades of his time here I was in daily contact with him, largely outside formal academe, in the many activities played out around the Spartan temporary wooden buildings known as Wright College, where we both were 'Fellows', and so, perforce, moulders of raw Australian — and international — manhood. Although the College had Oxbridge-Adelaide models, the time and place shaped a vibrant micro-community, ostensibly traditional but progressively more democratic — with communal eating, frank and indeed often fierce interchange, and a lifestyle surprisingly mellow. The college also had numerous raw Arts students, the first of their families attempting tertiary education. Surprisingly perhaps, many of these would become styled 'the sons of Russel' for their strong minds, clear thinking, cultural enthusiasms and commendably diverse contributions to Australian professional and public life.