Kenneth Myer

Kenneth Baillieu Myer AC, DSC (1 March 1921 – 30 July 1992) was an American-born Australian patron of the arts, humanities and sciences; diplomat, administrator, businessman and philanthropist. He was a member of the notable Melbourne retailing Myer family. Myer made significant philanthropic and personal contributions to the development of major national institutions, most notably the Howard Florey Laboratories of Experimental Physiology and Medicine, the School of Oriental Studies at the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Arts Centre and the National Library of Australia. He was also the founding chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Ken Myer was born in San Francisco, California, United States in 1921, the eldest son of Sidney Myer, who migrated to Australia from Russia in 1899, then moved to the United States to make his fortune. Sidney Myer had divorced his first wife in Reno, Nevada, but this divorce was not recognised under Australian law. His second wife, (later Dame) Merlyn Myer, travelled to San Francisco for the birth of each of her four children to ensure they would be considered legitimate. The family returned to Australia in 1929 and Myer was educated at Geelong Grammar School, where his strengths were in music, the arts, the classics and languages. His father died at an early age in 1934, when he was 13 years of age. He was accepted to Oxford University but could not attend due to the outbreak of World War II. He attended Princeton University for a year, then returned to Australia and served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

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