Academy Fellow

Professor John Williams AM is the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic at Adelaide University. John holds the Dame Roma Mitchell Chair of Law at Adelaide University. John has held key leadership positions in research-intensive universities, each with substantial financial, staffing and strategic responsibilities. In these roles John has used the opportunity to undertake fundamental reforms to improve learning and teaching outcomes, as well as research translation. 

John’s main research interest is public law and in particular Australian constitutional law, the High Court of Australia, comparative constitutional law, federalism, legal history and law reform. He is the author of The Australian Constitution: A Documentary History (2005). 

As foundation director of the South Australian Law Reform Institute, John has assembled and overseen more than 25 reports to governments, many of which have informed significant changes to state law. He regularly provides expert commentary to the media and contributes to public discussions on constitutional change.  

In 2001 John was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal for his contribution to public law and legal history and in 2022 John was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to tertiary education, the law, and professional organisations. 

Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Adelaide University

Member in the Order of Australia

Centenary of Federation Medal

Harold White Fellow, National Library of Australia

Fellow, Australian Academy of Law

Judicial Federalism in Australia: History, Theory, Doctrine and Practice (with Gabrielle Appleby, Anna Olijnyk and James Stellios), Federation Press (2021)

The Crown: Essays on its Manifestation, Power and Accountability (with Martin Hinton editors), University of Adelaide Press (2018)

Public Sentinels: A comparative Study of Australian Solicitors-General (with Patrick Keyzer and Gabrielle Appleby editors), Ashgate Publishing (2014)

The Australian Constitution: A Documentary History, Melbourne University Press (2005)

Peace, Order and Good Government: Constitutional and Parliamentary Reform (with Clem Macintyre editor), Wakefield Press, (2003)