William Fraser Connell was born on June 28, 1916 in Lockhart, New South Wales. His family moved to Melbourne shortly afterwards. He was educated in Victorian State schools, Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, and the University of Melbourne, where he completed a B A Honours degree in History and Latin. During his studies towards the Melbourne B Ed degree, he developed a lasting interest in the history of education which, together with comparative and international studies, became the major field of his research and writing.
After four years of teaching in NSW schools, Bill joined the Australian navy in WW2, completing his M Ed degree from the University of Melbourne during his period of service. Proceeding to England on a scholarship in 1946, he completed a Ph D thesis at the University of London. Published as The Educational Thought and Influence of Matthew Arnold, this work was widely acclaimed. In 1948 he rook up a teaching post in the School of Education at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he completed an M A degree. His strong ties with this university have enabled many able Australian graduates in education to pursue their Ph D studies there.
Bill was appointed to a Senior Lectureship in Education at The University of Sydney in 1951, becoming the Professor of Education in 1955 with one other full-time staff member in the department. By the time of his retirement in 1976, he had overseen the development of major programs of undergraduate studies, and particularly of graduate studies in education. He was an active researcher and writer throughout his career. Responding to a lack of information about the interests and attitudes of Australian adolescents, he undertook a landmark study of nearly 9000 adolescents in Sydney, resulting in the publication in 1957 of Growing Up in an Australian City. A later more comprehensive study of Sydney teenagers undertaken with colleagues was published in 1975 as 12 to 20: Studies of City Youth.
As chairman of the Australian UNESCO Education Committee (1964 - 1973) and of the National Committee on Social Science Teaching (1970 - 1977), Bill contributed greatly to the promotion of social science teaching and education for international understanding in Australian schools. He led educational study tours to China in 1972 and 1976, and made official visits to educational institutions in the USSR. He was President of AARE in 1973, and was awarded its Honorary Life membership in 1978. From its foundation in 1957, Bill was the editor of the Australian Journal of Education for sixteen years. In 1976 he was appointed chairman of the TEND Committee to report on education in Tasmania. He was awarded an OBE in 1978.
During his retirement at Mornington, Victoria, Bill produced a number of major publications in the history of education - The Australian Council for Educational Research 1930-80, a mammoth volume on A History of Education in the Twentieth Century World, and Reshaping Australian Education 1960-1985.He was also responsible for the general editing and wrote several chapters for the second volume of the two-volume history of the University of Sydney. His outstanding record in research and publication was recognised by the award of the degree of Doctor of Literature in Education by the University of London and by an honorary Doctorate of Letters in Education by the University of Sydney. He was a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and a Fellow of the Australian College of Education.
Through his many significant publications and his perceptive and critical analyses of education within and beyond Australia, Bill has left a mark on educational thinking in Australia which few can match. He was held in high regard by his colleagues and students as a fine scholar, and a congenial, humane and encouraging leader and teacher.
He died suddenly in hospital at Mornington on 17 August, 2001.
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