Description:
The great bequests of Russell and Mab Grimwade have opened up extraordinary opportunities for the University of Melbourne, enabling an exciting range of initiatives.
Through the Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellows program, Australia has benefited from the visits of more than a hundred international academics. The University's cultural collections have been enriched by the treasures of the Grimwades' collections of art, rare books and Australiana. Russell Grimwade's passion for chemistry, appreciation of art and sense of obligation to preserve the past has driven the development of the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation. Russell's first allegiance may have been to biochemistry, but he had a wider vision: to fund the 'birth of an antipodean Clarendon Press' at Melbourne University Press. The distinguished Miegunyah imprint has realised his ambition and this book is the most recent volume in that series.
The Grimwades' bequests still remain one of the University of Melbourne's most significant gifts. This is the story of Russell and Mab Grimwade and their legacy to the Australian nation.
Brief description: John Poynter is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the School of Philosophical and Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne, and was formerly Ernest Scott Professor of History and a Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University. He spends his time in retirement writing history, biography and sardonic verse. His recent works include a history of the Rhodes Scholarships in Australia, included in the centenary History of the Rhodes Trust, published in Oxford in 2001; and Miegunyah co-authored with Ben Thomas in 2015.