Lawrence John "Lawrie" Willett (born 1938) is a former senior Australian public servant and university Chancellor.

Life and career

Willett was born in Brisbane in 1938. He joined the

Commonwealth Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Go ...

, in the

Department of Customs and Excise The Department of Customs and Excise was an Government of Australia, Australian government Government department, department that existed between January 1956 and March 1975. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or go ...

, in 1957, after completing his secondary schooling at

Brisbane State High School , motto_translation = Knowledge is Power , city = South Brisbane , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Public, selective, co-educational, secondary, ...

. Willett's early public service positions were in Queensland, before he transferred to Canberra in 1963. Willett worked as a senior Customs representative in Tokyo between 1971 and 1974. Willett was Director-General of the Department of Health between 1983 and 1984. He was the first person with a non-medical background to be appointed to that role. In October 1984, he was appointed Chairman of the Superannuation Fund Investment Trust, handling the compulsory superannuation contributions of Commonwealth Public Servants. Willett was appointed Charles Sturt University Chancellor in 2002. He served in the role for 12 years, welcoming Michele Allan as his successor in 2014. While Chancellor, Willett was instrumental in the establishment of the veterinary science program at the University, and the institution grew to become the largest provider of higher education in regional Australia.

Awards and honours

In June 1994, Willett was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to public administration, education and the community. In 2014, Willett was honoured with an honorary doctorate at Charles Sturt University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willett, Lawrie 1938 births Living people Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Brisbane State High School People from Brisbane Secretaries of the Australian Government Health Department