Spann, Richard Neville (RN)

Richard Neville Spann was born in Didsbury, a suburb of Manchester, England on 5 March 1916, the eldest son of a succesful master builder. Spann had a brother, Tommy, and a sister, Grace. He was educated at South Manchester Preparatory School and then Manchester Grammer School. In 1934 Spann was awarded an exhibition to Balliol College at Oxford University, where he remained until 1938. He was awarded a BA with second class honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1937, and remained at Balliol for a further year as a research student in the Politics Research Group, studying the Ministry of Health.

During 1938-9 Spann worked as a research assistant in the University of Manchester and in Spetember 1939 he was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in Public Administration. From 1940-5 Spann served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, initially in the Home Fleet, subsequently on the staff of the Commanders-in-Chief, South Atlantic and East Indies. After the war Spann returned to the University of Manchester and was promoted to a Lecturership in Government in 1946. In the same year he took his MA from Oxford. In 1950-51 Spann travelled to the United States as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, spending time at Harvard University, the Bureau of Budget in Washington, and the University of Chicago.

Spann was appointed to the Chair of Government and Public Administration at Sydney University on 30 December 1953, and took up his duties in February of the following year. Spann moved into St Andrew's College on his arrival and shortly thereafter was made Vice-Principal of the College, a residence and position in which he remained until his death.

As Departmental Head until 1972 Spann presided over a period of huge growth in the number of students in his discipline, only tardily matched by increased staff numbers. Nevertheless, he found time to publish a seminal work on Australian public administration (Public Administration in Australia, 1959) as well as writing a number of journal articles and contributions to other academic works. During this period also he took up the editorship of the journal "Public Administration" (later "Australian Journal of Public Administration"), and continued as editor for over twenty years.

Spann's activities were enormous and varied. He served on many University selection committees as well as the Professorial and Proctorial Boards, was Chairman of the University Library Committee, served as Dean of the Faculty of Economics 1956-7 and 1968-9, and was Chairman of the Board of Studies in Social Work from 1966 to 1973. Outside the University his range of interests was vast. He was a member of the NSW Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee 1957-60, served on the steering Committee of the Australian Regional Group of the Royal Institute of Public Administration 1958-75, was on the Executive of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia 1957-60 and 1963-66, was President of the Australasian Political Studies Association 1955-6, and served as a member of the Australian Research Grants Committee 1971-74.

Spann also made a number of contributions in the government sphere, although generally out of the public eye. He chaired the Administrative Research Committee of the NSW Public Service Board 1967-72, he was a consultant to the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration 1974-6, and from 1979-81 he was a member of the Administrative Review Council. In 1977 he was awarded the OBE by the NSW Government.

Spann's health deteriorated increasingly form the mid-70s onwards and during the 1970s he suffered from a number of heart attacks. Spann died in St Andrew's College on 25 July 1981. The University commemorated him with a Funeral Service in the Great Hall on 30 July 1981.