Graeme Blackman AO to be awarded Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa)

The University of Divinity awards its highest academic honour to Dr Graeme L. Blackman AO.

In September 2026, the Council of the University of Divinity resolved to award the degree of Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa) to Dr Graeme L. Blackman AO, who will step down from the role of Chancellor of the University at the end of the year. The Chancellor-designate, the Honourable Reverend Dr Lynn Arnold AO, will confer the award on Dr Blackman at the University’s graduation ceremony in Melbourne on Friday 9 April 2027.

The Doctor of Divinity is the oldest award of the University, created in 1910 and first awarded in 1913. It is the highest academic honour that the University bestows. The award is made in recognition of Dr Blackman’s sustained and distinguished contribution to theological scholarship through his extraordinary service to the University of Divinity and to wider service to society consistent with the University’s vision and mission.

Dr Blackman was appointed inaugural Chancellor of the University in 2011 and has served in the role since 1 January 2012. Prior to this appointment, he served as a member of the governing body of the Melbourne College of Divinity for some 20 years. He is an alumnus of the University of Divinity, having graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology (Research). Beside his long-standing contributions to the University of Divinity, Dr Blackman has made distinguished contributions to the wider community, being known for his professional leadership in the development of Australia’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry; his service to numerous commercial and charitable boards; and his service to the Anglican Church of Australia.

Emeritus Professor Gabrielle McMullen AM, Deputy Chancellor of the University of Divinity, said:

This award is richly deserved. Dr Blackman’s dedicated service to the University of Divinity has been exceptional and his outstanding leadership and commitment to the University’s vision and mission are acknowledged universally with gratitude. 

The citation for the award reads:

Dr Graeme Blackman AO has made both a sustained and distinguished contribution to theological scholarship through his service to the University of Divinity, and to engagement with the wider church and society, consistent with the University’s vision and mission. As the inaugural Chancellor of the University since 2012, a member of the governing body of its predecessor, the Melbourne College of Divinity, for 20 years before that, and as a student and graduate, Dr Blackman’s dedication to the University has been exceptional. In his contribution to the University Council and a wide range of committees, and in presiding at graduation ceremonies, attending events and representing the University in the tertiary sector and the public sphere, Dr Blackman’s active, insightful and engaged leadership, ecumenical sensitivity, and personal warmth are acknowledged universally with gratitude. He is a model of the values that the University seeks to instil in its graduates, and his dedicated service and the generous voluntary commitment of his time, expertise and support have been inestimable gifts to the University and its members.

As part of his broader service, Dr Blackman has held governance roles in the Anglican Church at diocesan, provincial, national and parachurch level, is a trustee of the Journal of Anglican Studies, has served a term as President of the Victorian Council of Churches, and has been a board member and chair of numerous commercial organisations, as well as a number of major charitable trusts. His exemplary community engagement has been alongside a distinguished career in the pharmaceutical industry, first as an academic, then as a manufacturer and member and leader of peak industry groups and government advisory committees.

The astonishing breadth and value of his contributions over many decades and across multiple sectors saw Dr Blackman made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017, and make him a most worthy recipient of the Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa).