Ron McCallum, LLM '74, Receives Top University Alumni Award

Photo by Bernard Clark

Ron McCallum, LLM '74, recipient of the 2007 Alumni Achievement Award , with Principal Karen Hitchcock, Queen's University Alumni Association President Dan Rees, Com '92, Artsci '93, and Michael Burns of the sponsoring firm Wellington West Clearsight at the Alumni Awards Gala in Kingston on October 11, 2007.

Professor Ron McCallum, LLM '74, received the Queen's University Alumni Association's highest honour at a gala dinner in Kingston on October 11, 2007. The 2007 Alumni Achievement Award was presented to McCallum for his leadership and significant contribution to public service.

McCallum has led a distinguished career. Blind since birth, McCallum was the first completely blind person ever appointed to a professorship at any university in Australia. He recently completed a five-year term as the Dean of the University of Sydney's law school, where he has served as the Blake Dawson Waldron Professor in Industrial Law since 1993, teaching labour law and litigation at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. McCallum has also taught labour law at Osgoode Hall and Duke University. He is widely recognized as one of Australia's premier labour lawyers. McCallum is the inaugural president of the Australian Labour Law Association and was appointed as the Asian Regional Vice-President of the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law in 2006.

McCallum has worked as an advocate and author in support of disability rights. In 2003, he was elected as the Chair of Radio for the Print Handicapped of New South Wales Co-Operative. He has been a Deputy-Chair of the Board of Vision Australia Pty Ltd since 2006. As a recipient of an Australian Centenary Medal in 2002 and the Order of Australia in 2006, he is deeply respected in his own country and around the world.

McCallum earned an LL.B. from Monash University in Melbourne and subsequently came to Queen's Law on a Commonwealth Scholarship in 1972, graduating in 1974. He has described his time in the Queen's LL.M. program as a "turning point" in his life. "I had a very happy time at Queen's [Law] ... As a blind student, I was impressed by the friendliness of the students and also of the law school staff and their families. It was a very happy and fulfilled time in my life," said McCallum.

During his week-long visit to Queen's Law in October, faculty and students had two opportunities to hear McCallum speak. He was a guest lecturer in the Labour Law class co-taught by Professor Emeritus Bernie Adell, his former thesis advisor, and Professor Kevin Banks. In the Queen's Law Visiting Lecturer series, McCallum gave a talk on "Developments in Australian Education: Lessons for Other Nations."

McCallum credits his postgraduate studies at Queen's with enabling him, as a blind person, to gain a foothold on the ladder of academic employment in Australia, leading eventually to his tenure as Dean of Law at the University of Sydney, Australia's oldest university. "I owe a lot to those at [Queen's Law] who treated me so well ... enabling me to pursue my career goals," said McCallum.

"Ron McCallum's truly outstanding achievements have been an inspiration for all of us," said Professor Emeritus Don Carter, Artsci '63, Law ‘66. "His intellect, determination, and sense of humour have enabled him to reach the highest levels of the legal profession despite a disability that he has lived with since birth. We at Queen's are privileged to have been a part of this remarkable journey."