1995
CITATION
Mr Chancellor,
Mr Armstrong came to the Australian Tourism and Hospitality Industry in 1963 with a vast cosmopolitan experience. A member of the Merchant Navy at 17 he served there during the latter half of the Second World War, leaving the service in 1952 with the rank of Purser. He was then appointed Manager of the Hotel and Catering Services of the Tanganyika Sector of the East African Railways and Harbours where he worked for 11 years, becoming General Manager of Operations. After coming to Australia in 1963 he became Manager of the University of Queensland Union over the period 1967-1972.
In 1973 he was appointed Foundation Lecturer in Hospitality Management at the Queensland Agricultural College, Gatton, where he lectured for 14 years to degree, diploma and associate diploma students. During these years he established a strong base of industry support for hospitality education at Gatton and his industrial contacts were of great value in the development and administration of the Industrial Placement semester.
As early as 1971, Mr Armstrong had been elected Inaugural President, Queensland Division, Catering Institute of Australia, and after his retirement from the College in 1986 he became a member of the Queensland Tourism and Hospitality Industry Training Council and its Chairperson in 1988. Under his leadership Tourism Training Queensland was by 1993 coordinating an effective network of regional committees across the State. He was also appointed to the State Planning and Development Council of Queensland's Vocational Education Training and Employment Commission and more recently to the Chair of the panel which supervised the Review of Industry Training Advisory Bodies in Queensland. For his services to hospitality and tourism education he was created a member of the Order of Australia in 1994.
Mr Chancellor, in recognition of his significant contributions to hospitality and tourism education, I present to you John Philip Murray Armstrong, AM, FCIA, for the conferral of the award of Master of Business Studies honoris causa, to which he has been admitted by the Senate of the University.