CQUniversity was this week saddened to learn that Dr Arthur Appleton, Director of the Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education (CQUniversity's predecessor) had died Monday. He was 75.

Dr Appleton headed the organisation from 1972 to 1991, when it operated as CIAE through periods of growth and restructure until it transitioned to the University College of Central Queensland and University of Central Queensland.

Dr Arthur Appleton

Professor Appleton acted briefly as the University's first Vice-Chancellor and retired on January 2, 1992.

LINK HERE for Recollections about Arthur Appleton

"Arthur laid the foundations on which we operate and the University is forever grateful for his leadership and determination which, even today, continues to benefit tens of thousands of Central Queenslanders," said CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor Scott Bowman. 

Described by some staff in Academia Capricornia: A history of the University of Central Queensland (by Dr Denis Cryle) as "tough minded" and "very powerful" Dr Appleton presided  during a period that, whilst characterised as under-funded, saw the university expand from Rockhampton to build campuses in Gladstone, Mackay, Bundaberg and Emerald.

He described the construction of the iconic Library at Rockhampton (completed in 1978) as a "milestone" and that "the organisation had come of age as a public institution".

Formerly the Head of the School of Metallurgy at the South Australian Institute of Technology and a graduate of Liverpool University in the UK, Dr Appleton had taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US before coming to Australia in 1965.

Judith Anderson, General Manager of Queensland Ballet and a former personnel officer at the CIAE in 1992, recalled Dr Appleton as supportive.

"He was an important mentor to me and gave me exceptional opportunities for which I remain grateful today," she said

"Arthur was a fairly demanding task master... however, [he was] generous with his time to participate actively in staff meeting and debates," recalled Associate Professor Les Killion.

Thirty-year CQUniversity veteran Tony Gubbins said Dr Appleton enriched the lives of many staff.

"I remember him saying to me once that the best committee to serve on was a committee of one. He was the Art Acquisition Committee, which he loved."

A lover of classical music as well, the Creative Arts Building at Rockhampton was named after Dr Appleton in 1998.