Ken Myer

Kenneth Baillieu Myer, (1 March 1921 – 30 July 1992) was an American-born Australian patron of the arts, humanities and sciences; diplomat, administrator, businessman and philanthropist.

He was a member of the notable Melbourne retailing Myer family.

Myer made significant philanthropic and personal contributions to the development of major national institutions, most notably the Howard Florey Laboratories of Experimental Physiology and Medicine, the School of Oriental Studies at the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Arts Centre and the National Library of Australia.

Ken Myer was born in San Francisco, California, United States in 1921, the eldest son of Sidney Myer, who migrated to Australia from Russia in 1899, then moved to the United States to make his fortune.

Sidney Myer had divorced his first wife in Reno, Nevada, but this divorce was not recognised under Australian law.

His second wife, (later Dame) Merlyn Myer, travelled to San Francisco for the birth of each of her four children to ensure they would be considered legitimate.

The family returned to Australia in 1929 and Myer was educated at Geelong Grammar School, where his strengths were in music, the arts, the classics and languages.

His father died at an early age in 1934, when Ken was 13 years of age.

He enrolled at Trinity College, the University of Melbourne, for a term in 1939 before being accepted to the University of Oxford but could not attend due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

He attended Princeton University for a year, then returned to Australia and served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Myer was temporarily seconded to the Royal Navy in mid-1943, and rose to the rank of lieutenant.

On 15 August 1944, he was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for his role in an attack by HMAS Arunta (I30) on the Japanese submarine Ro-33 that had torpedoed a merchant ship, Malaita, outside Port Moresby.

He was also mentioned in despatches in 1944.

Later he served in the occupation forces in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

In 1947, Myer married Prudence Boyd (1925–2005) and they had five children: Joanna, Michael, Philip, Martyn and Andrew.

In 1948, Myer became a Director of the Myer Emporium, a role he continued until 1985.

In 1959, he became Benefactor and Co-Founder of The Myer Foundation with his brother Baillieu Myer AC.

He was also the founding chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Together with his siblings, Myer brought the Sidney Myer Music Bowl into existence in 1959.

Ken Myer donated it to the people of Victoria and Australia, and it was accepted on their behalf by the then Prime Minister, Robert Menzies.

Myer championed the introduction of freeways and shopping malls to Australia, and was instrumental in setting up the Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne.

He was Deputy chairman and managing director 1960–1966, Chairman 1966–1976, and a non-executive Director 1976–1985.

Myer won the International Retailers Award in 1970.

In 1972, Myer surprised and to a degree alienated his family by publicly supporting the Australian Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam during the federal election campaign.

Labor won government in December 1972 and Whitlam became Prime Minister.

In early 1974, Whitlam offered Ken Myer the opportunity of succeeding Sir Paul Hasluck as Governor-General.

He declined, and the post went to Sir John Kerr.

Myer's other activities were extensive and varied.

He was:

Myer successfully fostered new research in organisations such as the Division of Plant Industry of the CSIRO and helped build the Oriental Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

On Australia Day 1976 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).

Ken and Prudence were divorced in 1977.

He was also a Director of Coles Myer Ltd 1985–89.

In 1989 the Australian Libraries and Information Association gave Myer its Redmond Barry Award, which goes to a lay person not employed in a library who has rendered outstanding service to the promotion of a library and to the promotion of a library and the practice of librarianship.

The annual Kenneth Myer Lecture was founded by the Friends of the National Library of Australia in 1990.

The inaugural lecturer was Gough Whitlam, and later Kenneth Myer Lecturers have included H. C. Coombs, Dr Davis McCaughey, Emeritus Professor John Mulvaney, Sir Gustav Nossal, Professor Peter C. Doherty, Fred Chaney, Professor Fiona Stanley, Harry Seidler, Tim Costello, Geoffrey Robertson, Michelle Grattan, Professor Tim Flannery, Professor Ian Frazer, Kim Williams, Laura Tingle and Professor Megan Davis.

The Kenneth Myer Medallion for the Performing Arts was awarded by the Arts Centre Melbourne between 1991 and 2010.

Recipients of the award included Clifford Hocking (inaugural award, 1991); Liz Jones (1994 or 1995); Jenny Kemp and Daniel Keene (1998); Shirley McKechnie and John Romeril; Malcolm Robertson and Mary Kenneally (2000); actor and teacher John Bolton (2002); Bob Sedergreen (2006); choreographer Helen Herbertson (2007); and theatre maker and teacher Robert Draffin (2010).

At his death in 1992, he was the greatest collector of Japanese art in Australia.

In April 1992 Myer was elected to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science, under the provision for special election of people who are not scientists but have rendered conspicuous service to the cause of science.