Oh Margaret, would you be able to...?

Tony Blake

I feel very privileged to have been asked to offer a few words of reminiscence about my association with Margaret Trask. My first contact with Margaret was shortly after I commenced as principal of the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education in 1988. Margaret had been very influential in the early development of the institution. Although she had retired from her position there by the time I arrived, she remained a most admired and respected figure. One of the first things that I discovered about her was that she had a reputation for speaking her mind; something I was subsequently able to confirm empirically and for which I had great admiration.

It was also very obvious that she had been an assiduous and unselfish mentor. Those senior academics who grow to a point of professional maturity where they are able to focus their energies and enthusiasm on building capability in their junior colleagues are most precious assets in any institution. Margaret was one and, as a new principal, I became an immediate beneficiary of the work that she had done in that regard. So, of course, have other organisations over the years; a list of those mentored by Margaret reads like a Who's Who of the Australian library and information studies world. During my career I had the good fortune to work with many of them on boards or committees or as immediate colleagues. Although Margaret was by no means an effusive or demonstrative person, I know that she felt great pride and satisfaction in their success and in being warmly acknowledged by so many as their mentor.

Margaret was a regular, but infrequent visitor to Kuring-gai in the last couple of years of its independent existence. My main and enduring contact with her emerged from her election to the governing council of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 1994. Kuring-gai had amalgamated with the former UTS in 1990 to become a campus of a new entity which retained the name of the former university and I was appointed as deputy vice-chancellor. When the Council fell due for reconstitution in 1994 Margaret was urged to stand as a candidate to be elected by and from the Convocation of the university. She was a member of the Convocation by virtue of being a retired academic from Kuring-gai. Convocation elections are notoriously unpredictable, but fortunately for UTS Margaret secured the support necessary to obtain a position on the new Council.

She was an extraordinarily valuable addition to the Council and remained so for the rest of her life. She had an uncanny ability to capture the essence of an issue very quickly and deal with it directly. She became frustrated with cant, obfuscation and devious dealing - all occasional ingredients in a university council meeting. But she was generally able to mask her frustration with great diplomacy; something I greatly admired because I couldn't.

Margaret's first-hand experience as an academic, academic administrator and as a consultant and small business operator meant that she was able to contribute to the work of Council and the development of UTS in a multitude of ways. Being a university, contributing invariably meant sitting on committees and, quite often, chairing them. She joined several Council committees, but really demonstrated her qualities of strength and endurance in her long-running role as chair of the Student Affairs and Equity Committee. I shall not dwell on her contributions in this politically fraught arena; they were considerable and taxing at the time, especially as she became ill. However, she did not resile from her undertakings or perceived obligations and earned the lasting admiration of staff and students.

UTS recruitment policy required a member of Council to sit on staff selection committees for certain levels of appointment. Over the years Margaret would have sat on more selection committees than any other Council member. She was very good, too. She possessed an excellent hubris detector and an almost uncanny way of identifying the essential elements of an applicant. Her forthright comments, her insights into people and her good common sense assisted in UTS making some fine appointments and in avoiding some lemons.

I could not count the times I sought her help, let alone other university staff. 'Oh Margaret, would you be able to...?'

When I was appointed as vice-chancellor in 1996 I was aware that I would have to focus on the reconstitution of the Council which would occur towards the end of 1998. It became evident that the university's foundation chancellor, Professor Peter Johnson, was unlikely to continue, so I needed to contemplate the need for a new chancellor in the context of the composition of the new Council. I was very keen for Margaret to continue and I was delighted that she agreed to seek a further term. On reflection I am not certain of the source of Margaret's very strong commitment to UTS. It may have been because she saw it as the successor of Kuring-gai, or because of her abiding interest in professional education. Whatever the reason or reasons, UTS was the lucky beneficiary of her energy and wisdom.

From late 1998 she assumed the role of deputy chancellor, a position which she took very seriously. She was extremely enthusiastic about the appointment of Sir Gerard Brennan as chancellor - in fact she was one of the first to propose him to me as a possible chancellor. She relished working with him; they formed a close association based on mutual respect. No vice-chancellor could have asked for a more supportive or accomplished duo as chancellor and deputy.

As deputy chancellor she occasionally acted for the chancellor and officiated at the university's graduation ceremonies. For several years Margaret endured a painful arthritic condition which meant, among other things, that she was physically unable to shake hands with several hundred graduates in a row. Such a trifle was not going to deter Margaret from fulfilling the role: she arranged for the proceedings to be modified so that, instead of shaking each graduate's hand, she presented them with their testamurs. It worked well and ensured that Margaret was able to perform this important ceremonial role.

I suspect that history will show that Margaret's most significant contribution to the university - and possibly indirectly to other universities as well - will be in the area of governance and the roles and responsibilities of the governing bodies of universities. It was no secret that over the eight years of service on the Council, she became increasingly concerned about what Council's functions were, how they were performed, and the lack of a means whereby Council could assess its performance. She realised that what concerned her was by no means isolated to UTS; the issues were systemic and indeed the operations of the UTS Council at the time were positive and productive in comparison with the chaos reported from other places.

Margaret gained the enthusiastic support of the chancellor and me to explore more fully models of university governance. She attended conferences in Australia and the United States to learn more on the topic and was completing her report for the Council when illness started to slow her down. In her characteristically dogged way she ensured that she completed her report and I am sure that UTS will benefit from her analysis of the nature and purpose of a university governing body; what it does, what it doesn't, how it does it, and how it assesses its success.

I observed earlier that Margaret was not an effusive or demonstrative person. She was quiet and thoughtful, humble and forthright, with a lively sense of humour and a keen sense of duty. Readers who knew her will also remember her as a great traveller. A few months before her death my wife and I stayed at a lovely villa in Tuscany that Margaret had recommended (incidentally, the owners had vivid recollections of her, although some time had elapsed since she stayed there). She got to hear of a minor contretemps we had with the more temperamental of the two owners about an allegedly missing hand towel. We last saw Margaret in hospital a week or so before she died. She looked a little like a pirate with an eye-patch as she had one lens of her glasses masked to control the symptoms of double vision she was then suffering.

I retain a mental picture of this pirate - a stoic's stoic - sitting on her bed with her feet dangling over, obviously extremely discomfited, but absolutely not wanting to discuss herself or how she felt. She wanted to hear the tale of the Tuscan villa and the missing towel once more. There was an obvious sparkle in the one visible eye as she chuckled at the story; a final humorous moment together recalling a genial but hyper-obsessive 'mine host'. I treasure the memory as a lovely last and lasting impression that says so much about a remarkable woman and great friend.

Biographical information

Emeritus Professor Tony Blake was vice-chancellor and president of the University of Technology, Sydney from 1996 to 2002 and deputy vice-chancellor from 1990 to 1996. Prior to that he was principal of the former Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education where he first met Margaret Trask as a recently retired academic leader. Their friendship grew during his years at UTS during which Margaret was a member of the university's governing council.

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