Emeritus Professor Paul Johnson was born in Bath (UK) in 1956 and went to Oxford as a first-in-family student to study modern history and economics. He stayed on for my doctoral research and a post-doc fellowship before moving to a tenure-track lectureship in economic history at the London School of Economics in 1984. My teaching was in economic and social history but my research spanned history, demography, social policy and ageing.
Emeritus Professor Paul Johnson was fortunate to be granted a number of external fellowships during my time at LSE, including a year at ANU 1990-91. He was Deputy Director of LSE 2004-7, at which point Emeritus Professor Paul Johnson moved with his wife Susannah and our two children (then aged 4 and 1) to Melbourne where he was appointed to the Vice-Chancellorship of La Trobe University.
In 2012, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of UWA, from which he resigned at the end of 2016 when his wife was taken ill. He returned to the university in mid-2017 as Director/Warden of the Forrest Research Foundation and retired in September 2022.
Most important experiences while at UWA
I joined UWA as Vice-Chancellor just as the long-planned curriculum reform (known as New Courses) came on stream. I get the sense that no-one had truly appreciated how disruptive this would be both within UWA and in the external positioning of the university. It has taken a long time to work through the consequences and it shows how sensitive universities are to disruptive change, whether driven by internal pressure, market forces or political interference.
Where did you think you would end up, when you began your career?
I wasn’t thinking about where I would end up when, as a 25-year-old, I was awarded a post-doc fellowship, and then 3 years later was appointed to a tenure-track lectureship. I just felt extremely lucky to have secured these positions at a time when the Thatcher government was savagely cutting UK higher education funding. I certainly didn’t think then that I would end up going over to the ’dark side’ of university management and administration.
What are some of your most significant achievements?
I think this is something for others to comment on. Every researcher thinks their research findings are important, every manager thinks they have made good decisions, but the pathway between actions and outcomes is often long, indirect and opaque. One thing that has given me great satisfaction is being able to support and assist individual students and early-career researchers as they progress on their university and post-university journeys.
What has been the most interesting aspect of your career?
I have really valued the autonomy and flexibility offered by an academic career. I’ve been able to choose what research to do (on both contemporary policy issues as well as historical topics), and I’ve been able to collaborate with research partners from around the world. As a vice-chancellor (at both La Trobe Uni and UWA) I’ve not had much flexibility but have been able to do my bit to support academic colleagues to pursue their research and teaching goals.
Where are you planning to go from here? Are there new interests you are looking to get involved in?
I’m now enjoying a retirement with no committee meetings cluttering up my diary!
One new interest I’ve taken on is singing (not something I’ve done since high school) and have joined a couple of choirs.