Douglas Gautier AM has been elevated to the role of Flinders University’s Deputy Chancellor, having taken over the role from retiring University Council member Stephen Hains on 1 January this year.

An esteemed alumnus who has commanded a prominent role in South Australia’s Arts sector, Mr Gautier’s ties with Flinders have remained strong. In 2006 he received a Flinders University Distinguished Alumni Award and since 2012 he has been a member of the Flinders University Council.

He refects on his student years at Flinders during the 1970s with special fondness. “It was an exciting time at Flinders where creative leadership was evident under the great Professor of Drama, Wal Cherry,” says Mr Gautier, BA(Hons) ’75. His favourite educator at Flinders was history lecturer James Main, who opened up connections between culture and history. “His view was that one needed to look at the paintings, novels and music of a period to really understand a particular event in history.”

Graduating from Flinders with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in 1975, Mr Gautier joined the South Australian Theatre Company as trainee director and actor. After a stint at the BBC’s music and arts department in London, Douglas spent 25 years in Hong Kong, where he first worked as head of music and arts for Radio Television Hong Kong.

After a period in Sydney as Head of Concert Music for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he returned to Hong Kong to work in private sector media, as Deputy Managing Director of Metro Broadcast then as Director of Corporate Affairs for Newscorp’s Star TV. Later, he took up the role of Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. He was also founding Vice-Chairman of the Asian Arts Festival Association and a board member of the Asian Cultural Council (Rockefeller Foundation).

Mr Gautier is currently the CEO and Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival Centre, having joined South Australia’s principal arts venue in 2006 and revitalising the Centre with a focus on programming to increasing audiences, including the launch of the Adelaide International Guitar Festival and OzAsia Festival.

He is a respected cultural leader across the Asia Pacific region, being Chair of the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres, Director of the Asia Pacific Centre for Arts and Cultural Leadership, a member of the Australia-Singapore Arts Group, an Executive Councillor of Live Performance Australia, and a member of the Global Cultural Districts Network advisory board.

In 2016, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the arts and the community.

Flinders University Council will also benefit from the addition of Kim Cheater, who joined from 1 January as both a member and also Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee. Kim is also a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient – you can read his alumni profile here – and is Chair of the College of Business, Government and Law Advisory Board.