Welcome to the LH Martin Institute
The LH Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Management has been established to enhance tertiary education in Australia and New Zealand by providing a suite of programs and activities focused on institutional management and leadership and tailored to the particular needs of the sector.
Tertiary education is a complex and rapidly changing environment in which to lead and manage – one in which a strong understanding of both the nature of tertiary organisations and the policy environment in which they operate is crucial to success. Within this context, the LH Martin Institute aims to contribute to the leadership and management development of current and aspiring leaders so that institutions may fulfil their missions more successfully.
The Institute is interdisciplinary and has as its key objectives:
- to train the next generation of leaders of Australia’s higher education and vocational education in the strategic management of their institutions;
- to provide a forum in which publicpolicy makers, public and private sector institutions, and national and international experts can explore, assess and anticipate the changing national and international environment in which higher education and VET operates; and
- to support its educational programs with scholarship and research.
Therefore the LH Martin Institute has developed an approach that includes postgraduate award programs, executive education short courses, conferences, public seminars, research and consulting projects.
As a national Institute, established with the support of the Commonwealth Government and based at the University of Melbourne, LH Martin programs are conducted across Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
We look forward to working with you on these exciting developments.
Professor V. Lynn Meek,
Director
Who is LH Martin?
Professor Sir Leslie Martin was an eminent physicist who became a key higher education adviser to the Menzies government. Sir Leslie was Lecturer and Associate Professor in Natural Philosophy, and then Professor of Physics at the University of Melbourne (1927-59). After leaving the University of Melbourne in 1959, Sir Leslie became Chairman of the Australian Universities Commission, a position held until 1966. He oversaw a rapid expansion of Australian higher education, including the commencement of five new universities. In 1961 he became Chairman of a major inquiry into the future of Australian higher education, the Committee on the Future Development of Tertiary Education in Australia, which became known as the Martin Committee. The Committee’s advice led to a formalised ‘binary divide’ between the universities, as research and teaching institutions, and other higher education teaching institutions, mostly colleges of advanced education. 
After leaving the AUC, in 1967 Sir Leslie became Professor of Physics and the first Dean of the Faculty of Military Studies at the Royal Military College Duntroon. He retired in 1971. The College established the Sir Leslie Martin Prize, which has been awarded every year since 1985, and from 1986 by the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA). The prize is awarded for ‘distinguished performance by a First Year Officer Cadet in First Year Physics’ from all streams, that is, all Physics, Engineering and Arts students who take Physics.
Among his many other posts was Commissioner of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (1958-1968).
Leslie Martin was knighted in 1957 to honour his outstanding contributions to science.