Peter Karmel

Karmel was educated at Caulfield Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, where he won a non-resident Exhibition to Trinity College in 1940."College Scholarships, Exhibitions and Theological Studentships 1940", [http://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/media/docs/Fleur-de-Lys-1940-Oct-c86ccf9b-178b-4e23-a8f8-26950f989713-0.pdf The Fleur-de-Lys], vol. 4, no. 40 (Oct. 1940): 12. He graduated BA in the School of Economics in 1942, winning the Wyselaskie Scholarship and the Aitcheson Travelling Scholarship. After working at the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics in Canberra, Karmel accepted a lectureship in Economics and Economic History at the University of Melbourne in 1946. In that year, he was awarded the Rouse Ball studentship at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where he completed a PhD on Male and Female Fertility Rates. He was awarded a Rockefeller Grant that enabled him to visit America before his return to Melbourne as senior lecturer in 1949."New Appointments and Resignations", University of Melbourne Gazette, vol. 6, no. 2 (29 Mar. 1950): 14–15.

At the age of 27, Karmel was appointed to the chair of economics at the University of Adelaide in 1950, later moving the Australian National University. He was a member of the board for the Centre for the Mind from 1997 to 1999.Centre for the Mind (2009). [http://www.centreforthemind.com/whoweare/index.cfm Who We Are]. Retrieved 3 January 2009.

His economic research included a focus on educational issues. In 1962, at the University of Melbourne during the third annual conference of the Australian College of Educators, he delivered the inaugural Buntine Oration, on the topic "Some Economic Aspects of Education". In 1971 he moved back to Canberra to head the Australian Universities Commission, becoming chairman and head of its successor, the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission."[https://www.flinders.edu.au/giving/giving-opportunities/special-purpose-funds/about-peter-karmel.cfm About Peter Karmel]", accessed 13 June 2105. Professor Karmel released a 1973 report commissioned by the Whitlam government named Schools in Australia which influenced the government's funding of state schools.

Karmel served as the inaugural Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University (1966).{{cite news | last=Smith | first=Bridie | title=Karmel's lessons heard | date=3 January 2009 |work=The Age | url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/karmels-lessons-heard-20090102-794s.html}} He was also Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (1982–1987). In 1998 a national conference was held to honour Karmel at the conclusion of his term serving as chair of the Australian Council for Educational Research and board of directors.{{Cite journal|date=1998|title=Schools in Australia: 1973-1998 The 25 years since the Karmel Report (Conference Proceedings)|url=http://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_karmel/1/|journal=ACER Conference Proceedings|language=en|publisher=Australian Council for Educational Research}} The Peter Karmel Building at the ANU School of Music was opened on 26 October 2001 and named in his honour.{{cite web | title = GMB Architects, Peter Karmel Building Project | url = http://www.gmbarchitects.com/projects/educational04/index.html | access-date = 2008-12-13 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110520234602/http://www.gmbarchitects.com/projects/educational04/index.html | archive-date = 20 May 2011 | df = dmy-all }}{{Cite journal|last=Collet|first=James|date=2014-12-05|title=Peter Karmel Building at the Australian National University|url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/12333|journal=ANU Photographs|language=en-AU}}

He died in Canberra on 30 December 2008, aged 86.

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1967, a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1976, and awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001 "for leadership in Australian higher education and for being a leading academic".It's An Honour (2008). [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?breif=true&page=1&search_type=simple Peter Henry Karmel] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305083246/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?breif=true&page=1&search_type=simple |date=5 March 2017 }}. Retrieved 4 January 2009.

He was married to Lena, and they had six children. His daughter Pip Karmel was nominated for the 1996 Academy Award for Film Editing for her work on the film Shine.{{cite news | last=Downie | first=Graham | title='Gentleman scholar' Karmel dies | date=2 January 2009 |work=Canberra Times | url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/gentleman-scholar-karmel-dies/1398400.aspx }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} His son, Tom Karmel, is adjunct professor at Flinders University, where he works at the National Institute of Labour Studies.[http://www.flinders.edu.au/sabs/nils/people/adjunct-staff.cfm Adjunct Staff], Flinders University.

• List of Caulfield Grammar School people

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050620020414/http://www.assa.edu.au/Directory/listall.asp?id=161 ASSA biography]
• [http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=author:%22Karmel,%20P.%20H.%20(Peter%20Henry),%201922-%22&iknowwhatimean=1 Published works] at the National Library of Australia
• [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-217275769/listen Interview of Peter Karmel by Tony Ryan]

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{{s-bef | before = Donald Anthony Low }}

{{s-ttl | title = 7th Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University |years=1982–1987}}

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Category:Australian economists

Category:People educated at Caulfield Grammar School

Category:People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)

Category:University of Melbourne alumni

Category:Companions of the Order of Australia

Category:Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:1922 births

Category:2008 deaths

Category:Vice-chancellors of Flinders University

Category:Vice-chancellors of the Australian National University