The Easter Conference, April 1948

After the 1946 Act of the Commonwealth Parliament officially created the Australian National University the task of turning the theoretical university into a reality began in earnest. An Interim Council appointed the first Vice-Chancellor, economist Professor Douglas Copland, and the Academic Advisory Committee consisting of Nobel Prize winner Sir Howard Florey, physicist Professor Mark Oliphant, historian Keith Hancock, and anthropologist Professor Raymond Firth. The Easter Conference brought together members of the Interim Council, the Academic Advisory Committee, the new Vice-Chancellor and academics from all over Australia to discuss the new university.

Dr Jill Waterhouse has prepared an extensive research essay documenting the history and development of the 1948 Easter Conference.