Emeritus Professor Alan Rix has given more than four decades of exemplary service through his career, both as an eminent scholar of Japanese studies and language education and as a committed leader across senior roles in both academia and management at UQ.
Emeritus Professor Rix has published widely on Japanese affairs and Australia–Japan relations, with his work on Japan’s overseas aid setting the global benchmark in the field. In 1985, he began his 32-year career at UQ as a Professor of Japanese studies; across the following decades, he served in several leadership positions, including Head of the Department of Japanese and Chinese Studies, UQ’s first Pro-Vice-Chancellor (External Affairs), Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University.
In these roles, he played a key part in developing and advancing the University, from establishing new research centres to overseeing the development of a permanent home for the UQ Art Museum. As Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 2004, he was responsible for the UQ campuses at Gatton, Ipswich and Pinjarra Hills, serving as a strong advocate for the expansion and upgrade of teaching and research infrastructure at these campuses. In 2015, he was instrumental in the complex transition process of transferring UQ’s Ipswich campus to the University of Southern Queensland.
Emeritus Professor Rix has been described as a man of great integrity, dignity and humility by those who know him. Never seeking the limelight, he has enriched the community through his outstanding leadership and initiative at the University, but also through his volunteer work and philanthropy. He has served on several boards, including current positions on the Ipswich Arts Foundation Board and the Board of Edmund Rice Education Australia, and is currently an honorary research fellow at the Queensland Museum. Alongside his wife Judy, Emeritus Professor Rix has given generously to UQ across numerous areas, including the UQ Art Museum and Scholarship Endowment Fund. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a PhD from the Australian National University.
Emeritus Professor Rix’s UQ Fellowship celebrates his outstanding contributions to both UQ and the wider community, offering his expertise in Japanese studies and actively guiding the success of the University and its staff, students and researchers for decades.
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