Greg Craven (academic)

Summary

Gregory Joseph Craven AO (born 5 March 1958) is an Australian academic, who was the vice-chancellor and president of the Australian Catholic University from January 2008 to January 2021.[1][2] On 8 April 2020, the ACU chancellor, John Fahey, announced Craven's planned retirement in an email to staff and students, which was to become effective in January 2021.[3][non-primary source needed] His successor was named as Zlatko Skrbis, who took up his appointment as ACU's fourth Vice Chancellor on 11 January 2021.[4]

Greg Craven
Born (1958-03-05) 5 March 1958 (age 66)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
RelativesPeter Craven (brother)
AwardsOrder of Australia (AO)
Order of St. Gregory the Great (KGCSGG)
Scientific career
FieldsAustralian constitutional law, Federalism, succession
InstitutionsMonash University,
University of Notre Dame Australia,
Curtin University of Technology,
Australian Catholic University

Education edit

Craven was educated at St Kevin's College in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak and graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BA (1980); a LL.B (1981); a LL.M (1984); and a PhD candidate.[5] The literary critic Peter Craven is his older brother.[6]

Career edit

Craven has researched and written on constitutional law, government, public policy, constitutional history and federalism. He was a leading advocate of republicanism in the leadup to the (eventually unsuccessful) 1999 referendum on the proposed change in Australia from being a constitutional monarchy to a republic. He is also noted as a key Australian Catholic layman for opinions on important issues.

Before joining ACU, he was foundation dean and Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and deputy vice-chancellor (strategy and planning) at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia. He also served as executive director of the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy.[7]

Craven has published numerous books and articles, mainly in the field of constitutional law and constitutional history. He is a regular columnist for The Australian newspaper.[7][8]

Craven has served on a range of public bodies. He chaired the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group and was deputy chair of the COAG Reform Council. He currently is a member of the Commonwealth Higher Education Standards Panel (HESP) and the lead vice-chancellor for Universities Australia on quality and regulation.[7]

In February 2019, following the 2018 trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell for child abuse, Craven provided one of 10 positive character references for the purposes of the sentencing hearing.[9][10] Pell was eventually acquitted and all the convictions quashed by the High Court of Australia on 7 April 2020.[11]

Within the Australian Catholic community, Craven is a member of the National Catholic Education Commission and the Truth, Justice and Healing Council.

Bibliography edit

  • Secession: the ultimate states' right. Melbourne University Press. 1986. ISBN 978-0-522-84317-0.
  • "A Bill of Rights for Victoria?: some issues", Victorian Parliament. Legal and Constitutional Committee, Government Printer, 1986, ISBN 978-0-7241-4193-7
  • The Convention debates, 1891–1898: commentaries, indices and guide, Legal Books, 1987, ISBN 978-0-949553-17-1
  • The High Court of Australia: a study in the abuse of power, Alfred Deakin Lecture Trust, 1997, ISBN 978-0-909888-27-5
  • Craven, G., ed. (1992). Australian federation: towards the second century : a work to mark the centenary of the Australasian Federation Conference held at Parliament House, Melbourne, 6–14 February 1890. Melbourne University Press.
  • Conversations with the Constitution : not just a piece of paper. Sydney: UNSW Press. 2004.
  • "Australian federalism : an heroic defence". Memento. 39: 6–9. 2010.

Degrees and honours edit

  • Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Melbourne (1980)
  • Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of Melbourne (1981)
  • Master of Laws (LLM), University of Melbourne (1984),
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great (GCSG) (2015),[12]
  • Officer of Order of Australia (AO) 2017[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "Office of the Vice-Chancellor". Australian Catholic University. Retrieved 2 February 2014.[failed verification]
  2. ^ "Vice-Chancellor to stay with ACU until 2018" (Press release). Australian Catholic University. 14 October 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  3. ^ @DrMurgy (9 April 2020). "New. Greg Craven, vice-chancellor at #ACU, is retiring Jan 2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Staff Writers (9 August 2020). "Sociologist Zlatko Skrbis takes over as ACU's fourth Vice Chancellor". The Catholic Weekly. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  5. ^ Appendix 1: Contributors. Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference of The Samuel Griffith Society. Vol. Upholding the Australian Constitution, Volume 11. Melbourne: The Samuel Griffith Society. 9–11 July 1999. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  6. ^ Susan Wyndham (20 July 2002). "Nothing if not critical". The Age. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "Office of the Vice-Chancellor and President – Professor Zlatko Skrbis | ACU".[failed verification]
  8. ^ "Greg Craven Live". acu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  9. ^ "George Pell's lawyer says child abuse was 'plain vanilla' sex as cardinal heads to jail". The Guardian. 27 February 2019.
  10. ^ Richard Ferguson (27 February 2019). "John Howard speaks for the first time about back George Pell". The Australian. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Cardinal George Pell wins appeal against conviction on sexual abuse charges". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Papal Knighthood awarded to ACU Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven". 18 December 2015.
  13. ^ John Ross (25 January 2017). "Australia Day honours to academics, researchers and tertiary education leaders". The Australian. Retrieved 17 September 2022.