Alexander Kerr

Alexander McBride Kerr joined WA Newspapers as a trainee journalist, then the Army in 1936, before enlisting in the Air Force in April 1940, becoming a RAAF pilot with 115 Squadron (RAAF). While flying above Germany in 1941, his plane was shot down. A badly wounded Kerr parachuted out and was taken to a POW hospital and seven months later to a POW camp, where he studied at the barbed-wire university with the help of the Red Cross. His captivity was broken by various attempts at escape, including a tunnel escape that was, at the time, the biggest of the war. His third attempt – during a Death March in 1945 – proved successful, and he miraculously made it back to London.

Upon returning home in 1945 Kerr enrolled at UWA where, during his student years, he was a member of the Guild Council, President of the Arts Council and Vice-President of the University Liberal Party and keen sportsman. He earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Master of Arts and PhD.

Initially appointed to a temporary lectureship in the Department of Economics, Kerr remained with UWA until 1975 when he resigned to become a professor at Murdoch University and later Deputy Vice-Chancellor. In 2004, Kerr was made a Member of the Order of Australia. He received an Honorary Doctorate from UWA in 2006.

University News 23 January 2019