Flinders University
Encyclopedia
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of navigator Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
, who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in the early 19th century.
The university has established a reputation as a leading research institution with a devotion to innovation. It is a member of the Innovative Research Universities (IRU) Group and ranks among the leading universities in Australia. Academically, the university pioneered a cross-disciplinary approach to education, and its faculties of medicine and the humanities are ranked among the nation's top 10. It is also ranked within the world's top 400 institutions in both Times Higher Education and the Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
by Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University or SJTU), sometimes referred to as Shanghai Jiaotong University , is a top public research university located in Shanghai, China. Shanghai Jiao Tong University is known as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China...
.
Origins and construction
In the late 1950s, with the growth of population in South Australia and the University of Adelaide's North Terrace campus reaching full capacity, the need for a second South Australian university was identified. In 1960, Premier Thomas PlayfordThomas Playford IV
Sir Thomas Playford, GCMG was a South Australian politician. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965, the longest term of any elected government leader in the history of Australia. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and...
announced that 150 hectares (370.7 acre) of state government-owned land in Burford (now Bedford Park
Bedford Park, South Australia
Bedford Park is a southern suburb of Adelaide in South Australia.The Hancock family established a homestead and farm at the foot of the Adelaide Hills in the mid 19th century. A family name from an earlier generation lent its name to the property of Bedford which was later changed to Bedford Park...
) would be allocated to the University of Adelaide for the establishment of a second campus.
Planning began in 1961. The principal-designate of the new campus, economist and professor Peter Karmel
Peter Karmel
Peter Henry Karmel, AC, CBE was an Australian economist and professor.-Biography:Educated at Caulfield Grammar School, the University of Melbourne and the University of Cambridge where he received a Ph.D., Karmel had served as the Vice-Chancellor of both Flinders University and the Australian...
, was adamant that the new campus should operate independently from the North Terrace campus. He hoped that the Bedford Park campus would be free to innovate and not be bound by tradition.
Capital works began in 1962 with a grant of ₤3.8 million from the Australian Universities Commission. Architect Geoff Harrison, in conjunction with architectural firm Hassell, McConnell and Partners
HASSELL
HASSELL is a multidisciplinary design practice, with offices in Australia, China, Singapore and Thailand. It was founded in Australia in 1938. In 2010 it was ranked the largest architecture company in Australia and the 25th largest in the world....
, designed a new university that, with future expansions, could eventually accommodate up to 6000 students.
Independence and opening
In 1965, the Australian Labor Party won the state election and Frank WalshFrank Walsh
Francis Henry "Frank" Walsh was the 34th Premier of South Australia, serving from 10 March 1965 to 1 June 1967.-Early life:One of eight children, Walsh was born into an Irish Catholic family in O'Halloran Hill, South Australia...
became premier. The ALP wished to break up the University of Adelaide's hegemony over tertiary education in the state, and announced that they intended the Bedford Park campus to be an independent institution.
On 17 March 1966, a bill was passed by state parliament officially creating the Flinders University of South Australia. Although the Labor Party had favoured the name "University of South Australia", academic staff wished that the university be named after a "distinguished but uncontroversial" person. They settled upon British navigator Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
, who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in 1802. Its coat of arms, designed by a professor in the Fine Arts faculty, includes a reproduction of Flinders' ship Investigator and his journal A Voyage to Terra Australis, open to the page in which Flinders described the coast adjacent the campus site.
Flinders University was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, the Queen Mother, on 25 March 1966. Peter Karmel was the first Vice-Chancellor and Sir Mark Mitchell
Mark Mitchell
Mark Mitchell is an Australian actor and comedian.-Early life:Mark studied English and education at State College of Victoria Rusden Campus and taught secondary school English for 5 years before becoming a professional actor.-Career:Mark starred in the pioneering sketch comedy show The Eleventh...
the first Chancellor. The university began classes on 1 July 1966 with a student enrollment of 400.
A significant early initiative was the decision to build the Flinders Medical Centre on land adjacent to the campus and to base the university's Medical School within this new public hospital - the first such integration in Australia. Flinders first accepted undergraduate medical students in 1974, with FMC being opened the following year.
Expansion and restructuring
In 1990, the biggest building project on campus since the mid-1970s saw work commence on three new buildings - Law and Commerce; Engineering; and Information Science and Technology. Approval for the establishment of a school of Engineering was given in 1991.In 1991, as part of a restructuring of higher education in South Australia, Flinders merged with the adjacent Sturt Campus of the former South Australian College of Advanced Education. In 1992 the present four-faculty structure was adopted.
In 1998, the Centre for Remote Health, a rural teaching hospital based in Alice Springs, was established jointly with the Northern Territory University.
In 2000, the university officially opened four research institutes: The Institute for Research in Society and Culture, the Flinders Medical Research Institute, the Flinders Institute for Health Research, and the Flinders Institute for Research in Science and Technology.
Campuses
The university maintains a number of external teaching facilities in regional South Australia, south-west VictoriaVictoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. International students make up 10% of the on-campus student population and a number of offshore programmes are also offered, primarily in the Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...
region.
Organisation
Faculties and schools
- Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Affiliates
- Australian Science and Mathematics SchoolAustralian Science and Mathematics SchoolThe Australian Science and Mathematics School is a coeducational public senior high school for Years 10 - 12 located in Adelaide, South Australia on the campus of Flinders University. As the school is unzoned, it attracts students from all across the Adelaide metropolitan area as well as some...
- Flinders Medical CentreFlinders Medical CentreFlinders Medical Centre is a 580 bed public teaching hospital and medical school, co-located with Flinders University and the 130 bed Flinders Private Hospital located at Bedford Park, South Australia. It opened in 1976. It is one of the major public hospitals operating in metropolitan Adelaide...
- The Adelaide Theological Centre Inc (comprising the Catholic Theological College and the Uniting College for Leadership and Theology replacing the Adelaide College of DivinityAdelaide College of DivinityAdelaide College of Divinity is an accredited higher education provider offering diploma, associate and bachelor degrees, graduate diplomas, master and doctoral degrees in ministry, it is also a Registered Training Organisation offering certificates and a diploma.There are close associations...
) - Helpmann AcademyHelpmann AcademyThe Helpmann Academy was formed in 1994 as a partnership of the major tertiary arts training institutions in South Australia.It brings together the skills and resources of South Australia's universities and TAFE SA, with courses in music, dance, drama, directing, visual arts, technical theatre...
Housing
Flinders is the only South Australian university with on-campus accommodation in the Adelaide metropolitan area. There are two options:- University Hall (catered)
- Deirdre Jordan Village (self-catered).
For off-campus accommodation, Flinders Housing run a free, up-to-date accommodation service which lists private accommodation available on the rental market.
Media
The Empire Times was published by the Students' Association of Flinders University (SAFU) from 1969 to 2006. The founder and first editor of the newspaper was Martin Fabinyi, and the newspaper was originally printed in the back of his house by fellow student Rod Boswell. Empire Times had a history of controversial humour and anti-establishment discussion. Notable former editors and contributors included Martin Armiger and Greg (HG Nelson) Pickhaver, Steph Key and Kate Ellis. Empire Times ceased publication in 2006 as a result of voluntary student unionismVoluntary student unionism
Voluntary student unionism is a policy, notable in Australia, under which membership of – and payment of membership fees to – university student organisations is voluntary....
.
The newly formed student organisation, Flinders One, launched Libertine Magazine in 2008. It is published quarterly at the beginning of each term. Libertine is contributed to by students across the Flinders community and features articles, a feature artist, columns, creative writing, and a rant in each edition. It is partially funded by outside advertising, which is liaised through Flinders One. The magazine is distributed throughout campuses, and is a space for student creativity and voice.
Sports
Flinders University has many sports teams that compete in social and competitive competitions. Flinders University also fields a baseball side in the Division 5 and Division 6 levels of the South Australian Baseball League.Distinguished alumni and persons
- Mohammad KaykobadMohammad KaykobadMohammad Kaykobad is a computer scientist, educator, author and columnist from Bangladesh. He is one of leading specialists in Information Technology who along with Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, started the national mathematics olympiad...
, (1954-), Computer Scientist, Professor of CSE, BUET - Philip BournePhilip BournePhilip Eric Bourne is a professor of pharmacology at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego ....
(1953-), professor of pharmacology at UCSD - Rodney BrooksRodney BrooksRodney Allen Brooks is the former Panasonic professor of robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 1986 he has authored a series of highly influential papers which have inaugurated a fundamental shift in artificial intelligence research...
(1954-), professor of robotics at MIT - Kate EllisKate EllisKatherine Margaret "Kate" Ellis, MP is an Australian politician, representing the federal division of Adelaide since 2004 and is currently the Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare and the Minister for the Status of Women in the Gillard Government.-Early life and career:Ellis was...
(1977-), Australian federal politician and minister - Noni Hazlehurst (1953-), actress
- Scott HicksScott HicksRobert Scott Hicks is a film director from Australia. He is best known as the screenwriter and director of Shine, the Oscar-winning biopic of pianist David Helfgott. Hicks's work has been nominated for an Academy Award as well as winning an Emmy Award.-Personal life:Hicks was born in Uganda, the...
(1953-), film director - Caleb LewisCaleb LewisCaleb Lewis is an Australian playwright raised in Melbourne and Adelaide and currently residing in Sydney.-Works:Lewis studied drama and playwriting at the Flinders University Drama Centre under playwright Verity Laughton. In 2002 he began a year-long mentorship with Nick Enright and began work on...
(1978-), playwright - Sam MacSam MacSam "Sam Mac" McMillan is an Australian radio and television personality.-Career:After starting at local Adelaide radio station, Fresh FM, McMillan scored a job doing swing announcing on SAFM/TripleM Adelaide. In December 2002, he began hosting the evening shift on SAFM. In April 2003 he was moved...
, radio and television personality - Mamoru MohriMamoru Mohriis a Japanese scientist, a former NASDA astronaut, and a veteran of two NASA space shuttle missions.-Biography:Born in Yoichi, Hokkaidō, Japan, Mohri earned degrees in chemistry from Hokkaido University and a Doctorate from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1976.Most of Mohri's...
(1948-), retired astronaut, scientist and engineer - Brendan NelsonBrendan NelsonDr Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician and former federal Opposition leader. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1996 federal election until 19 October 2009 as the Liberal member for Bradfield, a northern Sydney seat...
(1958-), former Australian federal politician and minister - Greig PickhaverGreig Pickhaveralt=Greig Pickhaver|thumb|In May 2010Greig Pickhaver AM is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian sports comedy duo Roy and HG...
(also known as H.G. Nelson), actor, comedian and writer - Amanda RishworthAmanda RishworthAmanda Louise Rishworth , Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2007, representing the electorate of Kingston, South Australia.-Early years:...
(1978-), Australian federal politician - Xavier SamuelXavier SamuelXavier Samuel is an Australian actor. He has appeared in leading roles in the feature films September, Further We Search, and Newcastle, and played Riley Biers in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third movie in Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight Saga film series.-Early life and education:Samuel was...
(1983-), actor - John SchumannJohn SchumannJohn Lewis Schumann is an Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide. He is best known as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their chart-topping hit "I Was Only 19 ", a song exploring the psychological and medical side-effects of serving in the Australian forces during...
, Michael Atkinson, Verity Truman, Chris Timms (founding members of RedgumRedgumRedgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals and Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were soon joined by Chris Timms on violin. All four had been students at Flinders University and...
) - Terence TaoTerence TaoTerence Chi-Shen Tao FRS is an Australian mathematician working primarily on harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, combinatorics, analytic number theory and representation theory...
(1975-), Fields Medalist, professor of mathematics at UCLA - Sialeʻataonga Tuʻivakanō (1952-), Prime Minister of TongaTongaTonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
To date, Flinders has produced four Rhodes scholars
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
.
External links
- Flinders University
- The Flinders University of South Australia Act 1966
- FlindersStudents Flinders University Student's News
- FlindersStudents Flinders University Student Forums
Affiliated teaching bodies
- Australian Science and Mathematics School
- Flinders Medical Centre
- Adelaide Central School of Art
- Helpmann Academy
Institutional affiliations