Professor Peter Glow

Professor Peter Glow

BA (Melbourne), PhD (London)

My first contact with the academy came by way of a letter from the Executive Director inviting me to accept fellowship of the Academy of the Social Sciences. At the time I was teaching and researching in the biology of behaviour.

My surprise was not so much at the offer of a fellowship, but that an academy of the social sciences existed.   I quickly worked out who were my likely mentors and was readily reconciled to spending a day in Canberra with the prospect of meeting a number of clever people, to say nothing of a banquet.

So it came to pass, that in 1974 I attended a splendid function, with wines of a rarity I had never before experienced.  But there was a price to pay.  I was appointed the Convenor of the Academy in South Australia, and thus a member of the Executive Committee.

My responsibilities as Convenor, which at first glance seemed difficult to pin down due to the absence of guidelines, became really enjoyable. I decided to initiate regular meetings and found that every South Australian fellow was willing to participate. Our meetings were fun, both intellectually and socially.

I remained on the executive committee for fourteen years, during which I was able to participate in the Academy’s evolution into a substantial body of scholars with a similarly weighty program of activities.