Professor Peter Goodall signed off on a distinguished career in higher education last month as he moved from his chair as Dean of the Faculty of Arts to a more unassuming position in his quiet home office in Mt Lofty.
Professor Goodall served as Dean of Arts at the University of Southern Queensland for the past six years and also previously held the position of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice).
He began his academic journey as an undergraduate and postgraduate student at Oxford University in his homeland of England with a passion for English literature that would carry him through his entire career.
Professor Goodall then emigrated to Sydney where he worked in various academic and management roles at Macquarie University over a long period.
Looking for a challenge, he came to USQ at a time when many universities were cutting back on resources in the Arts.
But Professor Goodall said he felt he was leaving the Faculty in good shape with a consistent growth of students year after year and a gradual build of quality staff in all discipline areas.
“It has not always been easy,” he said.
“But it has been very enjoyable and very rewarding.”
Professor Goodall said one thing he would take away from a career in the university sector was a strong sense of continuity.
“One of my final tasks at USQ has been to sit on an interview panel to recruit a new lecturer in English literature — it’s funny to think that’s how my career started.”
Originally a specialist in English literature of the Middle Ages, Professor Goodall will use the next two or three years to work on another of his passions — a literary history of the islands around the mainland of Britain.
He will also be able to devote more time to the Journal of Language, Literature and Culture, of which he is the editor, as well as spending more time with his family.
His wife Jane is a distinguished writer and academic and lives with him in Toowoomba, while his son still lives in Sydney.
Professor Goodall said he anticipated the sector would undergo major changes over the coming years, but he felt USQ and his Faculty of Arts were more than equipped to not just survive, but to thrive.
“My hope is that the Faculty continues to build on both its academic strengths and its creativity and that the University continues to support Humanities and Creative Arts as it has done in the past,” he said.
“It is a good place to work, and I have been privileged to work with wonderful colleagues.”
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