Professor Ken McKinnon and wife Suzanne Walker. Ken left a lasting legacy as UOW’s second vice-chancellor. Photo: Paul Jones.
When Emeritus Professor Ken McKinnon AO arrived at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in 1981, it was an institution still finding its feet. The campus was underdeveloped and the university was in its infancy.
“I started here when the university wanted to grow its student cohort and place stronger focus on its future and role in the region,” Ken recalled. “The first year was about establishing a strategy and an organisation that was clear about where it needed to go.”
It was an ambitious project, but what happened over the next 14 years under Ken’s leadership would transform not just UOW, but the entire Illawarra region.
Today, as UOW celebrates its 50th anniversary, Ken’s legacy as its second vice-chancellor remains profound and far-reaching.
Ken’s path to Wollongong was anything but conventional. Born in Auburn, South Australia in 1931, he began his career as a teacher.
In 1954 he had an opportunity to move to Papua New Guinea to be a headmaster. It was an early highlight of Ken’s career and after eight years he had risen to the position of superintendent of schools.
“I enjoyed my time in Papua New Guinea and when I was offered an opportunity to undertake a Harkness Fellowship at Harvard University, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave,” Ken said.
In the end the prestigious Harkness Fellowship won Ken over and he spent two years in Boston completing his studies.
“While I was in the United States I had the opportunity to travel the country, broaden my mind and lean into new experiences. My time at Harvard was transformative,” Ken recalled.
“The support and encouragement I received to expand my horizons and explore, deeply shaped my view of how universities can provide learning experiences beyond the lecture hall.”
Ken returned to PNG in 1966 as the director of education and worked closely with PNG’s future prime minister Michael Somare, earning praise for his efforts in decolonisation as he prepared local leaders to take over.
Ken’s successes in PNG did not go unnoticed back on Australian soil, with the Whitlam government reaching out to ask Professor McKinnon to return to Australia to take up the role of chair of the Australian Schools Commission.
Eight years later Ken said he received an unexpected call from Wollongong, asking him to consider leading the university.
“I said I’d come but only if they were willing to let me do what I considered essential in any university, and that was to treat the students as people and not just numbers,” he said.
“It’s important that universities develop people and prioritise educating students.”
It was 1981 and Ken and his wife Suzanne Walker packed their bags and made the move from Canberra to the coast.
His commitment to creating meaningful student experiences led to innovative initiatives like the Science Centre and Planetarium (now UOW Science Space), which began without funding but grew into one of the region’s most important educational resources.
“I am very proud of the Science Space. It started without a penny, but was the result of a conversation with a researcher who had big ideas. A conversation then led to the creation of a world-class science centre,” he said.
When Campus Review ranked Australian universities in the early 1990s, Wollongong achieved what Ken proudly describes as “a spectacular result as the smallest and only non-capital city institution in the top three bands.”
This international vision led to the establishment of UOW Dubai in 1993, which Ken saw as just the beginning of a truly global university.
“I wanted to be the first and strongest genuinely international university,” Ken said.
Since retiring in 1995, Ken and Sue have remained deeply connected to the university.
In 2016 the couple donated $1.3 million to establish the McKinnon-Walker Trust, designed to nurture innovative ideas at UOW. The trust provides grants to help bring emerging ideas with commercial potential to fruition.
In 2024 they made an extraordinary $5.1 million gift to establish the McKinnon-Walker Research Fellowships, supporting research that addresses global challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration. It was one of the largest donations in UOW’s history.
“With the University of Wollongong celebrating its 50th anniversary this year we wanted to make a contribution that would continue to serve the university, its communities and the nation well into the future,” Ken said.
“Ongoing philanthropic support of the university is vital for a place like UOW. The opportunities and experiences I had at Harvard taught me about the power and impact a university can have.
“Sue and I wanted to provide the same kind of experience here in Wollongong, supporting accomplished and emerging scholars through a well-funded and diverse experience.”
At 94, Ken’s vision for UOW remains ambitious and global. He dreams of a university with campuses worldwide and genuine cultural exchange between them. Ken believes that UOW can lead the way in creating genuinely international education that prepares students for a complex global future.
“Look at what we achieved at UOW in a decade. It was a rapid development from a college serving the local steel industry, to a modern university with a wide range of disciplines,” he said.
“I am enthusiastic about the future and what the people at UOW, both staff and students, can achieve.”
This is an edited version of a story which appeared in UOW’s The Stand.
