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Allan Myers

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Allan Myers
AC, KC
Born (1947-10-17) 17 October 1947 (age 77)
Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Lawyer, academic, landowner, businessman, philanthropist
SpouseMaria Myers AC
Children3
Parent(s)John and Betty Myers
Awards
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Allan James Myers AC, KC (born 17 October 1947) is an Australian barrister, academic, businessman, landowner and philanthropist, and the previous Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.[1]

Biography

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Early life

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Allan Myers was born in 1947 in Hamilton, Victoria.[2][3][4] He was raised in Dunkeld, Victoria, where his father, John Norman Myers, worked as a butcher following his service as a stoker in the Royal Australian Navy Reserve during World War II.[2][3][4] He has five siblings.[3] He graduated from the University of Melbourne, where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws, and resided at Newman College.[5] He was editor of the Melbourne University Law Review from 1967 to 1969. He received the Supreme Court Prize in 1969. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford.[5][2]

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He became a lawyer in 1971.[2] He taught as a tutor at the Melbourne Law School. He later taught at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, Canada, from 1972 to 1974.[2][3] He returned to the University of Melbourne in 1974, where he taught Security Law and Taxation Law from 1974 to 1988. He served as Assistant Editor of the Australian Taxation Law Review.[2]

He was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1975 and took Silk in 1986.[2][5] He serves on the advisory council of the Oxford University Law Foundation.[2] He has represented George Pell, Kerry Stokes, Lloyd Williams, Alan Bond, John Elliott, Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart as well as Citibank and BHP.[6][3][4]

Business career

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He sits on the board of directors of Grupa Żywiec, a Polish brewery in which he is now a small shareholder, alongside investor John Higgins.[3][4] He serves on the board of directors of Norinvest Holding, a Swiss financial corporation,[4] and owns the Royal Mail Hotel, a restaurant in Dunkeld, and the Dunkeld Pastoral Company, as well as 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) around Dunkeld.[3][4] He also owns land in the Kimberley and the Tipperary Station near Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, which he purchased from businessman Warren Anderson.[4]

Personal life

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Allen Myers is married to Maria Myers AC,[7][8] and they live in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton.[3] They have two daughters, Clare and Cecilia, and one son, John.[4] Myers is a Roman Catholic and a member of the Order of Malta.[4]

Net worth

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Year Financial Review
Rich List 		Forbes
Australia's 50 Richest
Rank Net worth (A$) Rank Net worth (US$)
2014[8] $700 million
2015
2016
2017[9][10] $682 million
2018[11] 102 Increase $749 million Increase
2019[12] 123 Decrease $771 million Increase
2020[13] 127 Decrease $791 million Increase
2021[14] 131 Decrease $834 million Increase
2022 151 Decrease $883 million Increase
2023[15] 166 Decrease $844 million Decrease
Legend
Icon Description
Steady Has not changed from the previous year
Increase Has increased from the previous year
Decrease Has decreased from the previous year

Philanthropy

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He is a former president of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), to which he has made significant contributions.[8] In 2013, he donated A$10 million to his alma mater, the University of Melbourne.[5] Additionally, he served as chairman of its BELIEVE fundraising campaign.[5] He has served on the Boards of Trustees of the Alfred Felton Bequest, the Catholic Education Commission, the Monivae College Foundation, the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, the Ian Potter Foundation, and the Newman College Foundation.[2][5] He has also donated to the University of Oxford.[5]

He helped found the Grattan Institute, a non-partisan public policy think tank, and serves as its chairman.[2] He was a member of Liberty Victoria, formerly known as the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties.[2]

Myers endowed the Allan Myers Oxford University Scholarships, enabling students at the University of Melbourne to attend the University of Oxford.[16] He received an Honorary Doctor of the University from the Australian Catholic University and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from his alma mater, the University of Melbourne.[1][5]

Myers served as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, from 2017 to December 2022.[17][18] He and Maria Myers are two of the donors to the trust that funds the Peter Steele Poetry Award, a scholarship available to PhD students in the Faculty of Arts at the university.[19][20]

Honours

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Myers was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for his philanthropic and business achievements.[21] In 2016 he was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia for "eminent service to the community through philanthropic leadership in support of major visual arts, higher education, medical research and not-for-profit organisations, to the law, and to professional learning programs".[22] His wife, Maria, was appointed a Companion on the same day.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chancellor: Mr Allan J Myers AC QC". About us: Leadership. University of Melbourne. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Allan Myers citation: Honorary Doctor of Laws" (PDF). University of Melbourne. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2014. [dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "From wig and gown to Driza-Bone, this is Allantown". The Age'. 10 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kitney, Damon (16 April 2011). "Allan Myers: a vintage case of wine, religion and the law". The Australian.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "BELIEVE campaign". University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014. [dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Melbourne University Press was losing $1.25m a year". Australian Financial Review. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) entry for Mrs Maria Josephine MYERS". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2020. For eminent service to the community through philanthropic leadership in support of major visual and performing arts, cultural, education, and not-for-profit organisations, and to the advancement of the understanding of Indigenous rock art.
  8. ^ a b c Strickland, Katrina (July 2014). "Giving It Away: Allan Myers". Australian Financial Review Magazine: The Wealth Issue. p. 32.
  9. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2017). "Financial Review Rich List 2017". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  10. ^ Mayne, Stephen (26 May 2017). "Mayne's take: The top 25 Australian billionaires, as claimed by Fairfax". Crikey. Private Media. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2018). "2018 AFR Rich List: Who are Australia's richest people?". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  12. ^ Bailey, Michael (30 May 2019). "Australia's 200 richest people revealed". The Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  13. ^ Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (30 October 2020). "The full list: Australia's wealthiest 200 revealed". Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  14. ^ Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (27 May 2021). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  15. ^ Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (26 May 2023). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Allan Myers Oxford University scholarships". Faculty of Law. University of Melbourne. n.d. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  17. ^ "University of Melbourne appoints next Chancellor". The Melbourne Newsroom. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  18. ^ Fraser, Thomas (12 December 2022). "University of Melbourne appoints new Chancellor". Newsroom. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Peter Steele Poetry Award". Scholarships. 8 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  20. ^ "University of Melbourne launches Peter Steele poetry fund". Jesuits Australia. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Centenary Medal entry for Mr Allan James MYERS". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 14 November 2020. For service to philanthropy and business
  22. ^ "Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) entry for Mr Allan James MYERS". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2020. For eminent service to the community through philanthropic leadership in support of major visual arts, higher education, medical research and not-for-profit organisations, to the law, and to professional learning programs.
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Melbourne
2017–2022 		Succeeded by
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