Ronald Godfrey Tanner

FRGS The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(24 September 1927 – 10 July 2002) was an Australian professor of

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, associated for the greater part of his career with the University of Newcastle. Educated at

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, Tanner was appointed to Newcastle University College (NUC) in 1959 and became renowned at the institution for his enthusiastic involvement in student life and for his eccentric character (he cycled about campus in full

academic dress Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assum ...

as a matter of course). Tanner was a key figure in the campaign for NUC's independence from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. According to University legend, Tanner officiated at a celebratory bonfire for the inaugural Autonomy Day, during which he poured goon (exploitatively inexpensive cask white wine) libations onto the ground to "sanctify the land upon which the University rests". The Godfrey Tanner Bar, or "GT Bar", in the Shortland Building was named in his honour and provides $4.50 schooners (as of mythic memory) for students on Wednesdays. As of mid-2020, the bar became the "Local Connections" restaurant.

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External links

University Information Page
1927 births 2002 deaths Australian classical scholars University of Melbourne alumni Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society {{Australia-academic-bio-stub