University College Oxford Record 2020

Monash campuses as components of a wider
university rather than individual precincts, has
died, aged 78.
Lauchlan came to Monash in 1993 as pro
vice-chancellor (Gippsland). From 1995 to 1996,
he was also deputy vice-chancellor. As director
of the then new Berwick campus, he promoted
double award programs in which students studied
concurrently for degrees and diplomas. He
oversaw responsibility for open learning, distance
education, libraries, computing and multimedia,
believing that regional university campuses
should be beacons in the region’s development.
John Lauchlan Carter Chipman was born on
12 September, 1940, in Essendon, Melbourne. He
was the only child of Harold Carter Chipman
and Florence May Chipman (née Burness).
He graduated from the University of Melbourne
with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours 1) in 1963,
and his Master of Arts (Honours 1) a year later.
In 1965, he was awarded a Commonwealth
Travelling Scholarship to Oxford, where he
enrolled in the Bachelor of Philosophy course,
graduating with distinction in 1967.
During his time at Oxford, he became friends
with Michael Palin, who went on to become a
member of iconic British comedy group Monty
Python. The pair shared accommodation, and
Lauchlan is variously cited as the inspiration for
the group’s “Bruces” skit, about the members
of a philosophy department at the
fictional Australian University of
Woolloomooloo, who are all named
Bruce.
Lauchlan returned to Melbourne
to study law and became a senior
lecturer in philosophy at his alma
mater. During this time, he completed
both his Oxford Doctor of Philosophy
(1972) and his Melbourne LLB (1973). In 1975,
he moved to the University of Wollongong as
foundation professor of philosophy, and later
became its first pro vice-chancellor.
Early in his academic career he concentrated
on the philosophy of language, but later
gravitated towards political and moral philosophy,
philosophical logic, and the jurisprudential areas
of human rights and the relationship between law
and ethics. He was also pivotal in the creation
of the libertarian think tank, The Centre for
Independent Studies. A Christian libertarian, he
was conservative, right-wing and sometimes
controversial in his views.
After leaving Monash, he was subsequently
appointed vice-chancellor and president of
Central Queensland University (1996-2001). He
retired to the Gold Coast, where he joined Bond
University as an ombudsman and, later, a lecturer.
Lauchlan was married for 10 years to ABC
broadcaster Robyn Slater, from 1983 to 1993.
They remained lifelong friends until her death
in 2004.
RAYMOND KEITH HINKLEY
(Yeovil School) died on 2 October 2019
aged 72. He read Chemistry at Univ, both as
an undergraduate and a postgraduate. After
spending a year at Leeds on a post-doctoral
Fellowship, he joined the Civil Service in 1972,
working in the Treasury. In 1988 he
then moved to work for BP, eventually
becoming Chief Executive of BP’s
Pension Fund in 2005.
MAURICE ANTHONY RIMES
(Bryanston) died on 24 October
2019 aged 72. We are very grateful
to his widow Julie for supplying the
84 University College Record | October 2020