Fay Gale
Encyclopedia
Fay Gale AO
(13 June 1932 – 3 May 2008) was an Australia
n cultural geographer
and an emeritus professor. She was a passionate advocate of equal opportunity for women and Aboriginal
people.
to Jasper and Kathleen Gilding. Her father was a Methodist minister. Professor Gale was the first honours graduate in geography of the University of Adelaide. Professor Gale is notable for many academic works including the first ever PHD to focus on Part Aborigines and address issues of assimilation. Her thesis A study of assimilation: Part Aborigines in South Australia was published in Adelaide in 1960 and republished in 1964 after becoming widely set as an anthroplogy text. in numerous universities. She is widely revered for her contributions to academia and the role of women in academia.
In 1989, she was awarded the Order of Australia
for her services to Social Science, particularly in the fields of Geography and Aboriginal Studies. In 1978, she became the first woman to be appointed as Professor at the University of Adelaide, in Geography. In 1988, she became Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Adelaide and, in 1990, Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. In 1997, she was appointed President of the Academy of Social Sciences, the first woman to hold that position.
Professor Gale was greatly influenced by her relationship with her foster-sister Edna Walker, a member of the Stolen Generation
and was an early speaker and activist for change in the treatment of Aboriginals.
When she married Milton Gale in 1957 her two bridesmaids were Aboriginal women, Gladys Long and Linda Vale.
Her early research activity amongst Aboriginal communities represents in many cases the only written records of some people. The research was part of a body of work relied upon by Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission
in making its determination. This led to criticism by others of the veracity of the material. Rod Lucas discusses this treatment in 'The Failure of Anthropology'
During her time at The University of Western Australia Fay Gale was instrumental in developing significant advances in gender equity.
The University of Western Australia offers a fellowship for academics wishing to study overseas in her name - Fay Gale Fellowships.
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia has instituted (2008) The Fay Gale Annual Lecture which provides for a public lecture honouring a distinguished woman social scientist from among the Academy Fellows.
In 1972 Professor Gale was a visiting lecturer in the Geography School at Oxford University having been awarded the Catherine Helen Spence Scholarship to travel overseas. In 1978 she was a Visiting Professor at the University of Washington
.
In 1991 Professor Gale teamed with Ian Lowe to give that year's Boyer Lectures
entitled "Changing Australia (changes through technology)"
Professor Gale considered Dame Roma Mitchell
one of her key mentors.
. As the University's first female Vice Chancellor, who was also single, Professor Gale was the subject of considerable interest and the elements of the case involving academic rivalry and sexual exploits captured the imagination of the press with well over 100 news items being published. The background controversy was concerned with preferential homosexual and lesbian engagement between staff and selected students; and more generally over the disruption to their studies caused by radical changes wrought by the then Hawke Labor Government. Professor Gale received both support and criticism from the academic staff.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(13 June 1932 – 3 May 2008) was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n cultural geographer
Cultural geography
Cultural geography is a sub-field within human geography. Cultural geography is the study of cultural products and norms and their variations across and relations to spaces and places...
and an emeritus professor. She was a passionate advocate of equal opportunity for women and Aboriginal
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
people.
Background
She was born Gwendoline Fay Gilding in Balaklava, South AustraliaBalaklava, South Australia
The town of Balaklava is located in South Australia, 92 kilometres north of Adelaide in the Mid North region. It is on the banks of the Wakefield River, 25 kilometres east of Port Wakefield.-History:...
to Jasper and Kathleen Gilding. Her father was a Methodist minister. Professor Gale was the first honours graduate in geography of the University of Adelaide. Professor Gale is notable for many academic works including the first ever PHD to focus on Part Aborigines and address issues of assimilation. Her thesis A study of assimilation: Part Aborigines in South Australia was published in Adelaide in 1960 and republished in 1964 after becoming widely set as an anthroplogy text. in numerous universities. She is widely revered for her contributions to academia and the role of women in academia.
In 1989, she was awarded the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
for her services to Social Science, particularly in the fields of Geography and Aboriginal Studies. In 1978, she became the first woman to be appointed as Professor at the University of Adelaide, in Geography. In 1988, she became Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Adelaide and, in 1990, Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. In 1997, she was appointed President of the Academy of Social Sciences, the first woman to hold that position.
Professor Gale was greatly influenced by her relationship with her foster-sister Edna Walker, a member of the Stolen Generation
Stolen Generation
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...
and was an early speaker and activist for change in the treatment of Aboriginals.
When she married Milton Gale in 1957 her two bridesmaids were Aboriginal women, Gladys Long and Linda Vale.
Her early research activity amongst Aboriginal communities represents in many cases the only written records of some people. The research was part of a body of work relied upon by Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission
Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission
The Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission was a legal investigation into the nature of female aboriginal religious myths that existed around Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island in South Australia. It was a product of the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy....
in making its determination. This led to criticism by others of the veracity of the material. Rod Lucas discusses this treatment in 'The Failure of Anthropology'
During her time at The University of Western Australia Fay Gale was instrumental in developing significant advances in gender equity.
The University of Western Australia offers a fellowship for academics wishing to study overseas in her name - Fay Gale Fellowships.
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia has instituted (2008) The Fay Gale Annual Lecture which provides for a public lecture honouring a distinguished woman social scientist from among the Academy Fellows.
In 1972 Professor Gale was a visiting lecturer in the Geography School at Oxford University having been awarded the Catherine Helen Spence Scholarship to travel overseas. In 1978 she was a Visiting Professor at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
.
In 1991 Professor Gale teamed with Ian Lowe to give that year's Boyer Lectures
Boyer Lectures
The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 as the ABC Lectures. They were renamed in 1961 after Richard Boyer , the ABC board chairman who had first suggested the lectures...
entitled "Changing Australia (changes through technology)"
Professor Gale considered Dame Roma Mitchell
Roma Mitchell
Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell, AC, DBE, CVO, QC was an Australian lawyer, judge and state governor. Mitchell was the first Australian woman to be a judge, a Queen's Counsel, a chancellor of an Australian university and the Governor of an Australian state.Roma Mitchell was born in Adelaide in 1913,...
one of her key mentors.
Rindos affair
Gale was involved in considerable controversy in the early to mid 1990s over activities in the Anthropology department that became known as the "Rindos Affair" and ultimately made what The Times called "state history" by leading to an enquiry by the Legislative CouncilWestern Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
. As the University's first female Vice Chancellor, who was also single, Professor Gale was the subject of considerable interest and the elements of the case involving academic rivalry and sexual exploits captured the imagination of the press with well over 100 news items being published. The background controversy was concerned with preferential homosexual and lesbian engagement between staff and selected students; and more generally over the disruption to their studies caused by radical changes wrought by the then Hawke Labor Government. Professor Gale received both support and criticism from the academic staff.
Key appointments
- President of the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee;
- Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia;
- President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in AustraliaAcademy of the Social Sciences in AustraliaThe Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia is an autonomous, non-governmental organisation, devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It was established in 1971...
(1998–2000) - President of the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils;
- Patron of Academy of the Social Sciences in AustraliaAcademy of the Social Sciences in AustraliaThe Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia is an autonomous, non-governmental organisation, devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It was established in 1971...
(2001–2003); - Chair of the Festival of Perth Board of Management;
- Chair of the West Australian Symphony OrchestraWest Australian Symphony OrchestraThe West Australian Symphony Orchestra , often known as the "Orchestra of the West", is the premier professional orchestra of the state of Western Australia.-History:...
Advisory Board; - member of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth UniversitiesAssociation of Commonwealth UniversitiesThe Association of Commonwealth Universities represents over 480 universities from Commonwealth countries.- History :In 1912, the University of London took the initiative to assemble 53 representatives of universities in London to hold a Congress of Universities of the Empire...
; - member of the Australian Research CouncilAustralian Research CouncilThe Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...
; - member of the Prime Ministers Science, Technology and Innovation Council;
- Commissioner with the Australian Heritage Commission;
- member of the National Committee of UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
; - Consultant Australian National Parks and Wild Life Service, NSW National Parks;
- Consultant National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Conditions Advisory Group, Department of Health and Ageing (Australia)Department of Health and Ageing (Australia)The Department of Health and Ageing is an Australian Government department. Its role is to oversee the running of Australia including supporting universal and affordable access to medical, pharmaceutical and hospital services, while helping people to stay healthy through health promotion and...
. - Sole woman professor, University of AdelaideUniversity of AdelaideThe University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
, for almost a decade
Firsts
- First woman Pro-Vice-ChancellorPro-Vice-ChancellorIn a university, an assistant to a vice-chancellor is called a pro-vice-chancellor . These are sometimes teaching academics who take on additional responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities are in charge of Administration, Research and Development, Academic and Education affairs...
, University of AdelaideUniversity of AdelaideThe University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia... - Vice-Chancellor, the University of Western Australia. This was the first appointment of a woman in WA and the second in Australia, but it was the first to either a sandstoneSandstone universitiesThe sandstone universities are an informally defined group comprising Australia's oldest tertiary education institutions. Most were founded in the colonial era, the exceptions being the University of Queensland and The University of Western Australia . All the universities in the group have...
or Group of EightGroup of Eight (Australian universities)The Group of Eight is a coalition of leading Australian tertiary institutions, intensive in research and comprehensive in general and professional education...
university - First woman elected President of the Institute of Australian Geographers
- First woman elected President of the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee
- First woman elected President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in AustraliaAcademy of the Social Sciences in AustraliaThe Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia is an autonomous, non-governmental organisation, devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It was established in 1971...
- First woman chair of the Festival of Perth Board
- First woman elected to the Council of the Association of Commonwealth UniversitiesAssociation of Commonwealth UniversitiesThe Association of Commonwealth Universities represents over 480 universities from Commonwealth countries.- History :In 1912, the University of London took the initiative to assemble 53 representatives of universities in London to hold a Congress of Universities of the Empire...
- First woman elected President of the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils
- First woman elected Patron of the Association of Tertiary Education Management, Australia and New Zealand