Prior to entering the Higher Education sector in 1970, Peter held senior positions as Manager of his family’s Property Development Business and Auditor at Coopers and Lybrand in the 1960’s. These positions followed his graduation in the Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne.
It was in 1970 that Peter first ventured into Higher Education with his appointment to the position of Accountant and Assistant Faculty Secretary at The University of Melbourne until he transferred to Monash University in June 1974 to become General Manager of the Faculty of Medicine.
He was regarded as a ‘top class administrator’ at this time and in November 1982 he was promoted to the position of General Manager of the Faculty of Engineering at Monash’s Clayton Campus. With the deregulation of the International Education Industry by the Hawke Govt in 1986, during his tenure in the Faculty of Engineering, it was then that Peter was chosen in December of that year to represent the University internationally.
On his first trip into South East and North Asia, Peter was accompanied by Rod Jones (former Chairman of Navitas), Ian McCormack and other colleagues. It was during this trip that Peter signed up the first cohort of international students to commence their studies at Monash in March 1987.
With the very rapid expansion of the International Education Sector, Peter was thus appointed as the inaugural Director of the Centre for International Students (CIS) in October 1987 at the Monash Clayton Campus. In fact, this was the first appointment of its kind in Australia.
From late 1987 through to 1993 Peter both ‘drove’ and ‘led’ the Monash University brand in every way and became known at that time, and all the decades since, as a ‘legend’ of the International Education Sector in those ‘Frontier Years’. During this era, he held the positions of Director for CIS and then in July 1991 was appointed as Director of Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY) – the first foundation year to commence in Australia.
Peter set the trends, the standards, and achieved so much not only for Monash but for Australia throughout this expansionist period. It was he and his colleagues that put Australia on the map internationally for our sector.
Australia’s first ‘Foundation Year’ was initially based at Frank Tate House in Armadale, close to not only the Monash Clayton Campus, but especially the Caulfield Campus of the University that became part of Monash in July 1990.
Owing to the enormous success of both Monash’s Marketing and Recruitment, including MUFY, it was in November 1993 the Vice Chancellor of La Trobe University, Michael Osborne, appointed Peter as their Director of International Programs and Managing Director of La Trobe International Pty Ltd. Not only did the University’s commencing international students increase substantially in a short period of time, but Peter also established the La Trobe University Foundation Year which injected a further massive number of students into La Trobe.
Following the success of La Trobe University’s campaign to increase its profile internationally, Peter and his partner Laraine Hartridge were approached by Rod Jones and Peter Larsen, who together with Ben Chew, had established the first Navitas pathway college (PIBT) at Edith Cowan University in 1994.
In September 1996, as the inaugural Executive Director of the Melbourne Institute of Business and Technology (MIBT), an agreement was signed with Deakin University to establish the institute with students commencing to study in March 1997 at the Toorak Campus. With the success in recruiting thousands of students to both Monash and La Trobe Universities over a decade, it was not surprising to anyone that Peter was approached to fill this significant role.
There were sacrifices made to set up this entity as there were with SIBT at Macquarie University where their agreement was signed the next day. With Peter overseeing the College, the next decade from 1997 through to 2006 were indeed halcyon times for MIBT and the entire IBT Group, prior to it being rebranded as Navitas in 2007. From an initial intake of just 120 students in March 1997 the College grew rapidly, reaching a total of over 1,000 students by the time Peter had announced his retirement from his position at MIBT.
During his tenure, Peter, together with Rod Jones and Peter Larsen as co-directors, established ‘MIBT Indonesia’ in Jakarta as it was known at the time in March 1999. This venture, which was not only close to Peter’s heart, was successful in attracting thousands of students from Indonesia to complete the pathway program in Jakarta through to the second year of study at Deakin University. At this time, the College was ‘one of a kind’ with Peter chairing the Board of Directors for the College throughout this time.
In addition to the venture in Jakarta, Peter and Rod Jones also spearheaded the establishment of the first Navitas pathway college in the UK. In mid-2000 an agreement was signed by Navitas with the University of Hertfordshire, at that time known as HIBT. Again, whilst having smaller intakes in the first few semesters, the College increased dramatically years later and is still going strong for Navitas in the UK. The establishment of HIBT, now known as Hertfordshire International College, provided the impetus for many colleges to follow and lead the success of Navitas in the UK and Europe.
Throughout the period from Peter’s retirement from the operations of MIBT, Peter maintained a significant role with the Navitas Group and was an inaugural Director of the company when it was listed on the stock exchange in 2004, and then rebranded from the IBT Education Group to Navitas in 2007. His contributions to the Navitas group at the highest levels were invaluable, right through to his retirement from the Board of Directors in 2016. He continued his role as Chair of what became Deakin College Jakarta right up until 2023.
The years had gone by of course, with Laraine and Peter having enjoyed life at Portsea and Toorak and spending invaluable time with children and many grandchildren. Hence, with his passing on December 3, we can all reflect on what has been an enormous ‘Legacy’ that Peter has left for Deakin College, Navitas, the universities he worked for and very closely with, and the Australian Higher Education International Sector.
Peter Campbell changed the lives of so many students and staff, from his early days at Monash, through to La Trobe, MIBT/Deakin University and Navitas. There are so many people who still talk about him, his legacy, mentorship and wonderful memories they have shared with him throughout such a distinguished career.
A Memorial Service to celebrate Peter’s life will be held at Sandringham Yacht Club next Monday, December 15 at 2:30pm – https://www.greenhavenfunerals.com.au/funeral/peter-john-campbell/
The service will be live-streamed – please contact Danielle Hartridge for the link at danielle@iepadvisory.com.au
The Koala thanks John Duncan for this tribute.
