Robert Madgwick

Sir Robert Madgwick OBE
Colonel Robert Madgwick as Director of Army Education, Melbourne, 1944
Warden of the New England University College
In office 1946–1953
Preceded by	Edgar Booth
Succeeded by	Office abolished
1st Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England
In office 1954–1966
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Sir Zelman Cowen
Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission
In office 1967–1973
Preceded by	James Ralph Darling
Succeeded by	Richard Downing
Personal details
Born	Robert Bowden Madgwick (1905-05-10)10 May 1905 North Sydney, New South Wales (NSW)
Died	25 March 1979(1979-03-25) (aged 73) Hornsby, NSW
Nationality	Australian
Residence	St Ives, NSW
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Profession	Educationalist
Military service
Allegiance	Commonwealth of Australia
Branch/service	Australian Army
Years of service	1941–46 (Active duty)
Rank	Colonel
Commands	Australian Army Education Service
Battles/wars	World War II

Sir Robert Bowden Madgwick OBE (10 May 1905 – 25 March 1979) was an Australian educationist. He was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England and served two terms as Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Madgwick was an influential proponent of adult learning and extension studies in tertiary education. At the University of New England, he directed the development of several degree programs, including rural science, agricultural economics, and educational administration which were the first of their kind in Australia. In recognition of his contributions to education, Madgwick was appointed to the Order of British Empire in 1962 and knighted in 1966.

Born in North Sydney, New South Wales, Madgwick trained as a schoolteacher before attaining degrees in economics and economic history from the University of Sydney and University of Oxford. Appointed as a lecturer at the University of Sydney, Madgwick worked in the school's extension program which gave him experience and interest in adult education. With the onset of World War II, Madgwick and his colleagues proposed an adult education plan for the Australian Army. The government accepted the plan and, from 1941 to 1946, Madgwick served on active duty as Director of the Australian Army Education Service, which provided adult education services to the Army's 250,000 members during the conflict.

After his release from active duty in 1946, Madgwick was selected as Warden of the New England University College in Armidale, New South Wales. Assuming the position in 1947, Madgwick guided the school, then a college of the University of Sydney, to independence as the University of New England in 1954. Until his retirement in 1966, Madgwick presided over the school's expansion of its curriculum and facilities while promoting closer ties with the local community. Under Madgwick's leadership, the university took an early and leading role in adult education, extension degree programs, and agricultural research. After his retirement, Madgwick served from 1967 to 1973 as Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission.