Emeritus Professor Iain Hay

Iain is Matthew Flinders Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Geography at Flinders University, inaugural Director (CEO) of the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia; and a Director of both HCi (Health Care Insurance) and the SACE Board.

He has held senior university roles, including as foundation Dean (Education) of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University and as the Australian Learning and Teaching Council's Discipline Scholar for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. He served earlier as Head of the School of Geography, Population and Environmental Management at Flinders University.

Iain completed a PhD at the University of Washington as a Fulbright Scholar and received a higher doctorate (LittD) from the University of Canterbury, NZ. He is author or editor of many successful books and papers and maintains editorial roles with influential journals and book series. He co-founded Ethics, Place and Environment (Taylor & Francis) and is former Editor-in-Chief of Geographical Research (Wiley-Blackwell).

In 2006, Iain received the Prime Minister’s award for Australian University Teacher of the Year and has subsequently accepted numerous significant Australian and international awards and fellowships for contributions to geography, professional service, and to higher education.

Over his career Iain has also held research awards such as a University of Bristol Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship; a British Academy Visiting Fellowship; and a Fellowship of the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. He served too as National University of Singapore’s Educator-in-Residence.

Iain has experience leading professional and membership organisations including as First Vice-President of the International Geographical Union, President of the Institute of Australian Geographers, Chair of the Australian Academy of Science's National Committee for Geography, and as cofounder of the International Network of Learning and Teaching geography in higher education.