Campion College Appoints Professor Simon Haines as Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts

Image: Professor Simon Haines speaking at the 2025 Shakespeare Symposium.

Campion College is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Simon Haines as Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts. In this role, Professor Haines will work with Campion College’s Centre for the Study of the Western Tradition (CSWT) and contribute to the intellectual life of the College through public lectures, research initiatives, and teaching in the undergraduate liberal arts program.

Professor Haines brings to Campion College a distinguished record of scholarship, leadership and advocacy for the humanities. He has held senior academic positions including Reader in English and Head of Humanities at the Australian National University, and Chair Professor of English and Director of the Research Centre for Human Values at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 2017 to 2024, he served as the inaugural CEO of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation in Sydney, helping to shape national conversations about the study of Western civilisation and the renewal of humanities education. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Australian Catholic University and a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Humanities.

Dr Paul Morrissey, President of Campion College, welcomed the appointment, saying, “We are thrilled to welcome Professor Simon Haines as Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts. Simon’s remarkable career as a scholar, educator and advocate for the humanities embodies the very spirit of the liberal arts that Campion College cherishes. His deep wisdom, breadth of experience and passion for the life of the mind will greatly enrich the CSWT and our entire academic community. We look forward to the insight and inspiration he will bring to our students, faculty and the broader public conversation about the enduring value of a liberal arts education.”

Professor Haines said he was drawn to Campion College’s clear intellectual mission and its commitment to an integrated approach to learning. “Campion College represents something distinctive in Australian higher education – a serious and coherent commitment to the liberal arts as a formative education. The liberal arts invite us into sustained reflection on the great works and questions of our civilisation, and I am delighted to be part of that endeavour at Campion College.”

We look forward to welcoming Professor Haines to campus and to the many conversations and ideas his presence will bring to the College.