Cowen, Zelman Sir

Sir Zelman Cowen was a preeminent legal academic and Australia’s 19th Governor-General, serving as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England from 1967 to 1970. 

An exceptionally brilliant scholar, Cowen was a Rhodes Scholar and recipient of the Vinerian Scholarship at Oxford, following distinguished military service in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. After tenures as Dean of Law at the University of Melbourne and leadership roles at UNE and the University of Queensland, he was appointed Governor-General in 1977 to succeed Sir John Kerr. His vice-regal term was defined by his commitment to providing a "touch of healing" to a nation divided by the 1975 constitutional crisis. Later serving as the Provost of Oriel College at Oxford, Cowen remained a pivotal public intellectual who influenced Australian discourse on privacy, law reform, and the constitutional future of the nation.

Second UNE Vice Chancellor (1967 - 1970)

Obituaries Australia