After 11 years of distinguished service as Chancellor of Macquarie University, the Hon. Michael Egan AO has announced he will be retiring from the position in February 2019.

At the time of his retirement Mr. Egan will be the University’s longest serving Chancellor, surpassing the previous longest term of the University’s first chancellor, Sir Garfield Barwick AC.   

Mr Egan came to the University as a Council member in 2006  and  shortly thereafter was elected as Chancellor. He was previously the longest serving Treasurer of the State of NSW.  At the University, the Chancellor has presided over meetings of the University Council, served as a member of many Council committees and conferred degrees on tens of thousands of the University’s graduates.    

In reflecting upon the Chancellor’s announcement, the Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton commented, “The University owes our Chancellor a debt of great gratitude. Mr Egan has led the University Council with his unique and endearing style through times of great change within the University and through a period of sustained growth. He has been an enthusiastic advocate for the University with its many constituencies. Most of all, he has set the standard for presiding at graduations which has set Macquarie apart from all other Australian universities. Graduation ceremonies presided over by our Chancellor present our graduates and their families with a unique and wonderful experience which mixes a formality appropriate to the ceremonial nature of the occasion with a genuineness of warmth and humour.”

In announcing his decision to retire from the Chancellorship, Mr Egan said  he had at the back of his mind advice that former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fisher gave him many years ago: “Whatever you do, don’t stay too long”.

“I think that is advice worth taking, especially now that we have successfully bedded down our recent governance reforms.”

In seeking to appoint a new Chancellor, the Council will establish a special committee to be chaired by the Deputy Chancellor, Ms Louise Mason. The work of the search committee will begin shortly once the Committee of Council has been established. The Committee will work with a view to bringing a recommendation for consideration by the full Council in time for Mr Egan’s retirement at the end of February 2019.