Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
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President's Report
Professor Sue Richardson
At the Annual General Meeting of the Academy on 11 November, Leon Mann completed his three year term as President of the Academy and I was elected as his successor.
Leon has been an extremely active and effective President, and enlarged both the role of the Academy and, as a consequence, the role of President. Fortunately for me, he gave the Cunningham Lecture at the conclusion of the Symposium on 10 November, on the theme of 'Leadership'. His excellent presentation gave me many tips on how to be an effective leader. One was to be tall and to be male, and I am still working through how to take advantage of that advice.
The Academy has flourished on Leon's watch. The Secretariat and the important processes of election of new Fellows have worked smoothly and efficiently - this does not happen by chance. The International Program has been revitalised, due to the combined efforts of Leon and former President, Fay Gale. We have substantial new agreements with the UK and with France and are in the process of negotiating further agreements with Vietnam and with India. Our program is providing excellent opportunities for overseas linkages for a number of Fellows and other scholars. The two most prominent of Leon's achievements are the Indigenous Summer School and the additional grant of $115,000 pa for three years from the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST).
The Indigenous Summer School is an inspired act of outreach that Leon conceived, obtained funding for, and participated in. To ensure that it was not just a one-off experience, he obtained donations of over $80,000 during 2003 that will enable the Academy to commit to at least a further three years of activity. The Summer School brings together a group of Indigenous post-graduate students and their supervisors for a week of interaction with senior scholars. Academy Fellow Marcia Langton has collaborated closely with Leon in the design and implementation of the program. Leon's many representations to the Minister Brendan Nelson and the Secretary of DEST eventually yielded a commitment to provide substantial extra funding to both our Academy and the Academy of Humanities. The purpose of these funds is to increase our capacity to advocate for the social sciences and to provide advice to government. It includes an opportunity to expand our, necessarily limited, international program. The challenge for the incoming team is to make such good use of this money that it will be continued well beyond the initial commitment of three years. Leon led a concerted effort over a period of 18 months to have the crucial role of the social sciences reflected in the Government's national research priorities. We have yet to see the final outcome of these efforts. But there is no doubt that without his energetic advocacy, the national research priorities would have been drafted solely by and for the natural and technological sciences. All social scientists, and indeed the nation, should be grateful for Leon's determination that the insights from research in our disciplines be heard.
In a complementary set of activities, Leon has led an important initiative to collaborate more closely with the natural sciences. This has happened in the normal way through the National Academies Forum and friendly relations with our sister Learned Academies. But the real innovation is to commence serious discussion with the CSIRO on how the social sciences can be more firmly seeded in their work. This is unfinished business at present, and part of my task will be to work, with Leon's continuing assistance, to bring it to a fruitful outcome.
I have outlined only the most significant of the many things that Leon has done for the Academy during his three years as President. Even so, it is abundantly clear that he has used his office to great effect, and put in time that goes well beyond what could reasonably be expected from an honorary office. The Academy and the social sciences are in his debt.
At the AGM and dinner, twenty new elected Fellows were warmly welcomed and presented with their Testamurs. The Honourable Barry Jones was also welcomed as an Honorary Fellow. He is now a Fellow of all four of the Learned Academies; a unique feat I believe.
The AGM accepted the recommendations of the Executive with respect to membership of a range of committees. The Academy has a policy of limiting to six years the continuous service of any one person on its committees. This has the desirable effect of combining continuity with refreshment of ideas and perspectives in committee membership. It also enables the Academy to draw on a wide range of its Fellows to fulfil the many tasks required. The meeting also established two new committees and a steering group. A Policy and Advocacy committee was established to fulfil the obligations to DEST under the new grant that we have received. This group will have the challenging task of determining how best to meet the new requirements, and then establishing processes to do so. If any Fellows have ideas to contribute, I would very much welcome receiving them.
A small group was established to oversee the process of selecting and then developing the program for the annual symposium. Hal Kendig and Marian Sawer have agreed to take on this job. The Convenor of the Symposium, once selected, will also be on the Symposium Committee. The committee will not actually run the symposium, but will ensure that everything progresses smoothly within a manageable time frame.
Finally, a steering group was established to continue the process initiated with the natural sciences, to ensure a serious and productive deepening of the relationship.
The steering group will be led by Leon Mann. It will have a fixed life, and dissolve when its work is done.
The Academy is in good shape. Its budget is balanced; it has a fine, productive staff well-led by the Executive Director, John Beaton; it has efficient processes that produce a range of valuable outcomes. The workshop and research programs continue to support high quality original research with a distinctive multidisciplinary character. The next three years present an opportunity to build on this solid base. The greatest asset of the Academy is the outstanding ability and knowledge of its Fellows. I would like to see the Academy develop improved ways of capitalising on this unique asset. I understand that some Fellows do not wish to have an active role in the affairs of the Academy and that, of course, is their prerogative. We also have Fellows who have contributed a great deal in the past and from whom more cannot be expected. All the work of the Fellows is voluntary. But for the many who would welcome an opportunity to contribute to the work of Academy when their expertise is needed, we must ensure that their talents are tapped. The great payoff of doing this work is the excitement of meeting and working with outstanding scholars from a range of disciplines. The multi-discipline character of the Academy provides a distinctive dimension to all that it does. The workshops and research programs provide examples of the power that this brings. It is my experience that when scholars from different disciplines come together for serious discussion of a common topic, it is hugely exhilarating for the participants. With care, it can also be made highly productive in the insights that it produces. The Academy is accumulating an increasing wisdom on how to make such multi-discipline research strategies truly productive. The opportunity to initiate and to participate in intellectually exciting projects is one of the benefits of being a Fellow.
The Academy is a network of highly skilled scholars across the full range of the social sciences. My project for the next three years is to make still better use of the power of this network: for the benefit of Fellows, that of the Academy and all social scientists; and for quality scholarship on the important issues that face Australian society.
Sue Richardson
2003
Last modified: 2 November 2009.