EMBED - Danish example page - Churchill Trust - Report - Page 8
In Memory
Dr Geoffrey Swan OAM
A great man, a good friend to many and a loyal Churchill
Fellow, Dr Geoffrey Swan sadly passed away at 89 years in
November 2016.
Dr Geoffrey (Geoff) Swan was one of the very early recipients
of a Churchill Fellowship In 1968 to study the education of
children with cerebral palsy in Europe, the United Kingdom
and the USA and went on to found the Churchill Fellows’
Association of Queensland (CFAQ) on his return.
Geoff also served for quite a few years on the selection panel
for Queensland Fellows.
He was the first ever special education inspector of schools
and he contributed to the welfare of children, parents and
the professional development of teachers for decades.
Geoff and his lovely wife Doris were regular patrons at
almost every Fellows event until his health slowed him down
a few years ago.
In 2015, most of the past CFAQ Presidents gathered at
Geoff’s house for a morning tea to celebrate the 50th
Anniversary of the Churchill Trust and at the AGM in May
2016 Geoff was awarded a Life Membership by CFAQ.
We will miss this great man who truly grasped the real
meaning of “Fellowship”.
Dr Geoffrey Swan attended Queensland Teachers’ College
in 1944 after having passed the Junior Public Examination
(Year 10). Totally unprepared academically, personally or
professionally he then began teaching in primary and
one-teacher schools in various parts of the state. There
were however some lasting impressions from Teachers’
College especially in art, music, literature, philosophy and
history. He remembers the lecturers at Teachers’ College
with admiration and affection. While teaching in the country
he studied by correspondence and became an external
student of the University of Queensland. In the fifties Geoff
moved into special education and became a student of Fred
and Eleanor Schonell.
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For ten years he was Principal of the State School for Spastic
Children at New Farm. In 1973 he was appointed Inspector of
Schools (Special Education). He retired in 1987.
Geoff was a great man, a good friend
to many and a loyal Churchill Fellow
who truly grasped the real meaning
of Fellowship.”
In 1987 Geoff was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for
services to children with special needs. He was also a Fellow of
the Australian College of Educators.
From Segregation to Integration: the development of special
education in Queensland was the title of Geoff’s doctoral thesis
undertaken at the Fred and Eleanor Schonell Educational
Research Centre at the University of Queensland.
Geoffrey Swan has contributed several entries in the Australian
Dictionary of Biography.
In a recent edition of the Journal of the Royal Historical Society
of Queensland Geoffrey wrote about Sir Fred (1900-1969) and
Dr Eleanor Schonell (1902-1962). The article coincided with
the opening of the Eleanor Schonell Bridge at the University of
Queensland.
Geoff was recently acknowledged as QUT’s oldest ever graduate
at the age of 87 on his completion of a Master of Arts (Research).
Geoff’s Master’s thesis was titled The Rise and Demise of the
Inspector of Schools. It is a history of the role and people who
were the inspectors of schools in Queensland.
Vale Geoff Swan