Allan James MyersAC,KC (born 17 October 1947) is an Australian barrister, academic, businessman, landowner and philanthropist, and the previous Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.[1]
He became a lawyer in 1971.[2] He taught as a tutor at the Melbourne Law School. He later taught at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, Canada, from 1972 to 1974.[2][3] He returned to the University of Melbourne in 1974, where he taught Security Law and Taxation Law from 1974 to 1988. He served as Assistant Editor of the Australian Taxation Law Review.[2]
He sits on the board of directors of Grupa Żywiec, a Polish brewery in which he is now a small shareholder, alongside investor John Higgins.[3][4] He serves on the board of directors of Norinvest Holding, a Swiss financial corporation,[4] and owns the Royal Mail Hotel, a restaurant in Dunkeld, and the Dunkeld Pastoral Company, as well as 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) around Dunkeld.[3][4] He also owns land in the Kimberley and the Tipperary Station near Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, which he purchased from businessman Warren Anderson.[4]
He is a former president of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), to which he has made significant contributions.[8] In 2013, he donated A$10 million to his alma mater, the University of Melbourne.[5] Additionally, he served as chairman of its BELIEVE fundraising campaign.[5] He has served on the Boards of Trustees of the Alfred Felton Bequest, the Catholic Education Commission, the Monivae College Foundation, the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, the Ian Potter Foundation, and the Newman College Foundation.[2][5] He has also donated to the University of Oxford.[5]
He helped found the Grattan Institute, a non-partisan public policy think tank, and serves as its chairman.[2] He was a member of Liberty Victoria, formerly known as the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties.[2]
Myers endowed the Allan Myers Oxford University Scholarships, enabling students at the University of Melbourne to attend the University of Oxford.[16] He received an Honorary Doctor of the University from the Australian Catholic University and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from his alma mater, the University of Melbourne.[1][5]
Myers was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for his philanthropic and business achievements.[21] In 2016 he was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia for "eminent service to the community through philanthropic leadership in support of major visual arts, higher education, medical research and not-for-profit organisations, to the law, and to professional learning programs".[22] His wife, Maria, was appointed a Companion on the same day.[7]