Robert Heffron

Honours and legacy

Heffron was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science at the New South Wales University of Technology's first graduation ceremony to be held on the Kensington campus on 16 April 1955. The citation noted that Heffron "has played a vital role in the founding and early development of this university and remains a sympathetic and wise counsellor to our cause ... His name is written indelibly into the history of the New South Wales University of Technology". In 1956 his portrait, depicting him in the Scarlet and Old Gold robes of his honorary D.Sc., was painted by Henry Hanke, entered into that year's Archibald Prize, and was purchased by the university for its collection in 1957. In 1962, the now University of New South Wales, in honour of his role in its establishment and his continuing support, named its newest building after him as the "Robert Heffron Building", it was renamed the Australian School of Business in 2008 and is now the UNSW Business School. He was also made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of New England in 1956. As a Member of Parliament, he received the King George VI Coronation Medal (1937) and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953).