Speaker: Bill Russell

Florentine born Public Works Department engineer Carlo Catani died 100 years ago, in July 1918. He is revered for the work he did, during nearly 40 years in the public service, in shaping key bits of the Melbourne and St Kilda we recognise. For our Melbourne Day lunchtime talk, former RHSV president Bill Russell, who for some years was Director-General of the successor department to that of Catani, will consider whether Catani deserves a posthumous promotion or a retrospective reprimand.

Former President of the RHSV, Dr EW (Bill) Russell studied history at the University of Melbourne and then obtained his Diploma of Archive Studies from University College, London, in 1973 and was the first Victorian archivist to hold formal qualifications in archives. His doctorate in history at Monash University, completed in 1980, was based on records in PROV. He has worked in the Commonwealth and Victorian Public Services. In 1982 Dr Russell was appointed Secretary for Minerals and Energy and Commissioner, State Electricity Commission and in 1985 he became Director General, Department of Property and Services.In 1988 Dr Russell took up the position of Professor and Director, Public Sector Management Institute at Monash, one of 5 professorial positions he occupied at various universities. His last such position was as Professor and Director of the Australasian Centre for the Governance and Management of Urban Transport at the University of Melbourne.

Bill is currently busy as Secretary of the non-profit advocacy group of which he is co-founder, the Rail Futures Institute Inc.