A portent of academic upheaval: The story of John McCarty, W. A. ‘Gus’ Sinclair and the Chair of Economic History at Monash University, 1967–1993

Abstract

This article examines the rise and fall of the department of economic history at Monash University, between 1967 and 1993, through the prism of the careers of academics John McCarty and Angus Sinclair. The Monash staff personnel files reveal the importance of a small number of influential ‘God Professors’ in the initial appointment, and in the eventual loss of the department in the face of expanding business education.