4 minute read
Practical, Respectful and Thoughtful
by RANZCR
Professor Vin Massaro is Awarded Honorary Fellowship
At the 2022 ASM, the College awarded a well-deserved Honorary Fellowship to Professor Vin Massaro, for his substantial voluntary contributions to the governance of the College over many years.
Holding senior roles in many organisations, Prof Massaro’s successful consulting career has specialised in higher education and health workforce and also the interface between higher education and health. His research interests are in policy and management, with particular emphasis on quality assurance and governance, and he has published widely on these topics. He has conducted a wide range of consultancies for higher education, TAFE and health, including governance and management for several specialist colleges. He has also advised State and Federal governments on health workforce development, training and distribution, including a major national study of the admission to practice of overseas trained medical specialists.
Prof Massaro has also been an adviser to international governments and businesses, including reviews of national higher education systems and the development of new universities, and for several years he was a consultant to the OECD on quality in higher education. He has also been chairman, and a member, of several company boards.
Much of his consulting work has been at the intersection between medical and specialist education and research and the regulatory, accreditation and health systems with which they need to interact. He has been involved in the development of new medical schools and strategic visions for these, and major reforms in medical and specialist education. Prof Massaro was a Founding Editor of the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, editing or co-editing the journal for the first twenty years. He then went on to edit the equivalent journal of the OECD. He is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
He was appointed to the College Board as its inaugural Independent Member in 2013. He then was unanimously reappointed by the Board for two further terms, serving the maximum allowable nine years. His wide experience in education was a boon for the Board, and during a period of great change in the College’s educational activities, he was always on hand to provide guidance and advice, and to be there as a great listener for Board members as well as staff. He has always been an active mentor for other Board members. His work with the College went much further, though, and he was active in the Targeting Cancer Campaign, and regularly attended all of the RANZCR ASMs.
Prof Massaro recalls, “The Board I joined was the first since the restructure of the College’s governance, so I was curious to see how it would work and how it would accept its first external member. But the Board found its stride very quickly and was able to manage some very complex issues very effectively and collegially. It very quickly developed the ability to have robust disagreements without affecting the very warm working relationships that developed among its members. I was always made to feel a full member of the Board and it was probably the best board I have served on.”
Prof Massaro has made a particularly significant leadership contribution to College initiatives in Indigenous health as the Inaugural Chair of our Māori, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Executive Committee.
Outside of his professional work, Prof Massaro enjoys travelling and long walks and hikes. He plays pétanque and is interested in history and current affairs, including as a member of the Melbourne Forum, which sponsors discussions and debates on a range of current topics such as health, politics, education, international relations and the arts.
His long and distinguished service to the College is significant and we thank him.
