For the Montgomery, Alabama, talk radio personality, see
Don Markwell.
Donald John MarkwellAM (born 19 April 1959) is an
Australian social scientist,[1][2] who has been described as a "renowned
Australian educational reformer".[3] He was appointed Head of St Mark's College, Adelaide, from November 2019.[4] He was Senior Adviser to the Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate from October 2015 to December 2017,[5] and was previously Senior Adviser on Higher Education to the Australian Minister for Education.[6][7]
Markwell was a Research Fellow of
New College, Oxford, from 1985 to 1986, and then a Fellow and Tutor in Politics at
Merton College, Oxford, from 1986 to 1997.[9] He served as a reforming Warden (CEO) of Trinity College (University of Melbourne) from 1997 to 2007;[10] Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) of the University of Western Australia from 2007 to 2009;[8] and Warden of
Rhodes House, Oxford, from 2009 to 2012 (succeeding Sir
Colin Lucas).[11]
From 2007 to 2009, Markwell led a curriculum review at the University of Western Australia. The review proposed significant curriculum reform;[12] it was implemented as "New Courses 2012".[13]
Markwell was the first
Rhodes Scholar and the second Australian to serve as Warden of
Rhodes House (the global CEO of the
Rhodes Trust and the
Rhodes Scholarships).[11] As Warden from 2009 to 2012, Markwell expanded activities for Rhodes Scholars in Oxford, expanded alumni communications, events and consultation, initiated governance reform and raised significant funds to support the Rhodes Scholarships.[14] The appointments of several new Rhodes Trustees from around the world included
John MacBain, who was later recognized as the "Second Century Founder" of the Rhodes Trust for a gift of £75 million.[15][16] As well as discussing
leadership,
liberal education and collegiate education, Markwell's speeches drew attention to
Cecil Rhodes' goal of promoting international
peace.[17] He initiated discussion on increasing the number of countries in which Rhodes Scholarships are offered, leading to the later creation of Rhodes Scholarships for China and other countries.[17][18] He is credited with helping to initiate the review of undergraduate women's leadership at
Princeton University, chaired by
Nannerl O. Keohane,[19] and of helping to make scholarships in South Africa open to women.[20]
In 2012, Markwell stepped down as Warden of Rhodes House to return to Australia, where his family lives, and to become the Executive Director of the
Menzies Research Centre. The Chairman of the Rhodes Trust,
John Hood, paid tribute to "the extraordinary energy and commitment Markwell has brought to the advancement of the Rhodes Trust's affairs", and to the "many notable accomplishments under his leadership".[21]
As Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre (a public policy think tank in Australia named for Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister,
Sir Robert Menzies, and associated with the Liberal Party of Australia),[22] his activities included consultations with
Julie Bishop for developing a 'New Colombo Plan' to encourage Australian university students to study abroad in Asia-Pacific universities,[23][24][25] and co-editing State of the Nation: aspects of Australian public policy.[26][27]
In October 2013, following the Australian federal election of September 2013, Markwell was appointed as Senior Adviser on Higher Education to the new Australian Minister for Education,
Christopher Pyne, MP.[6] In October 2015, after the change of Prime Minister from
Tony Abbott to
Malcolm Turnbull, he became Senior Adviser to the new Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate,
George Brandis, who was also Attorney-General of Australia, until December 2017.[5] Markwell gave constitutional advice to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General during the prorogation, recall, and
double dissolution of the Australian Parliament in 2016.[28]
In November 2017, it was announced that Markwell would become head of
St Paul's College at the
University of Sydney in early 2018.[29] As Head (later Warden) of St Paul's College, he is credited with leading the vigorous implementation of an Action Plan for Cultural Renewal arising from a review of the college's culture led by
Elizabeth Broderick,[30] securing a new St Paul's College Act 2018[31][32] from the New South Wales Parliament to commence modernising the governance of the college, strengthening the relationship between the College and the
University of Sydney, and leading the creation of a Graduate House for postgraduate students and academics within St Paul's College.[33][34]
Portraits of Markwell hang at Trinity College, University of Melbourne, and Rhodes House, Oxford.[35]
Markwell was appointed as a Member the Order of Australia (AM) in the
2023 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to education in a range of roles".[36]
Writings
Markwell's academic works include contributions to
international relations,
political science, the
history of economic thought, constitutional history and
public law, and education. They address such questions as how to promote order and peace in the international society of states, the role of conventions in constitutional systems, and higher education for the 21st century.
John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace[37] was widely cited in the
Keynesian revival of 2008 for its emphasis on international economic cooperation (including the international coordination of economic policies, and the development of international economic institutions such as the
International Monetary Fund and
World Bank). It was also cited for its emphasis on economic causes of war and economic means to promote peace,[38] and in a 2013 controversy for rebutting the claim of
Niall Ferguson that the ideas in Keynes's The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) were significantly influenced by Keynes's attraction to a German banker,
Carl Melchior.[39][40] It is one of a number of Markwell's publications on both
John Maynard Keynes,[41] and
idealism in international relations (especially interwar idealists, such as Sir
Alfred Zimmern [who sought to promote the 'rule of law' in international society],[42]Cecil Rhodes, [who aimed to promote peace through international scholarships],
Florence Stawell, and Keynes himself, who sought economic means to promote peace).[17][43]
Markwell's contributions to international relations are in the tradition of the so-called
English school of international relations theory, and specifically of
Hedley Bull, but with an added emphasis on economic determinants of order in the international society of states. His study of Keynes and Australia traces the links between Keynes and Australia, from Keynes's opposition to the approach of
William Morris Hughes to
reparations after World War I, through the early impact in Australia of Keynesian ideas in the 1930s and 1940s, to the role of Australia in the creation of the
International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank at
Bretton Woods in 1944.[41]
Markwell's book Constitutional Conventions and the Headship of State: Australian Experience, published in 2016, is a selection of papers focused on
constitutional conventions and the role of the
Governor-General in Australia.[51]
In 1984 he co-edited with
George Brandis and Tom Harley a collection of essays, Liberals face the future: essays on Australian liberalism.[52] In 2013 he co-edited with Rachael Thompson and
Julian Leeser a further collection of essays, State of the Nation: aspects of Australian public policy, with critiques of Australian public policy since 2007 by 15 experts.[26][27]
Its sequel, 'Instincts to lead': on leadership, peace, and education,[55] based on Markwell's speeches and writings on those topics as Warden of
Rhodes House, Oxford, and as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the
University of Western Australia, was published in 2013. The title was drawn from
Cecil Rhodes saying in his will that he wanted as
Rhodes Scholars young people with 'instincts to lead'.[56]
Publications
Brandis, George; Harley, Tom; Markwell, Don, eds. (1984). Liberals Face the Future: Essays on Australian Liberalism. Oxford & Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
ISBN9780195545050.
Markwell, Donald (26 October 2006). John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN9780198292364.
Markwell, Don (2007). 'A Large and Liberal Education': Higher Education for the 21st Century. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing & Trinity College, University of Melbourne.
ISBN978-1740971508.
Donald Markwell (2010). The need for breadth: on
liberal education and the value of university residential colleges. Ashley Lectures, Trent University, Canada
Markwell, Don; Thompson, Rachael; Leeser, Julian, eds. (2013). State of the Nation: Aspects of Australian Public Policy. Connor Court.
ISBN978-1922168405.
Markwell, Don (2013). 'Instincts to Lead': On Leadership, Peace, and Education. Connor Court.
ISBN978-1922168702.
Markwell, Don (2016). Constitutional Conventions and the Headship of State: Australian Experience. Connor Court.
ISBN978-1925501155.
^George Brandis, Tom Harley, Don Markwell (eds) (1984), Liberals face the future: essays on Australian liberalism, Oxford & Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
^Donald Markwell(2007), A large and liberal education: higher education for the 21st century, Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing & Trinity College, University of Melbourne