Citation: Honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning

The relative success of the on-going attempt to transform higher education from a traditional, campus-based face-to face system to a more open, responsive, cost-effective system that enhances access and quality through the use of new technologies, OER and Open and distance learning is partly attributable to the vision, missionary zeal, tenacity and dedication of people like Professor Jim Taylor. Educated at the Universities of Birmingham UK, Sydney and Queensland, Brisbane in Australia, Professor Taylor is the quintessential academic, distinguished ODL and OER expert, a visionary scholar and education manager whose expertise is recognised in many parts of the world and used by national and international agencies such as The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNESCO, the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), the Science Council of Japan and the Australian Universities Quality Agency among others.

Emeritus Professor at the University of Southern Queensland since 2012, he is a distinguished member of the International Council for Open and Distance Education, and the President of the Council from 2002-2005. Prior to that, he was the ICDE Vice President for Australia and Oceania (1996-2002) and Chair of the ICDE SCOP Task Force on Educational Technology. He has published widely in many prestigious international journals and books. He is a renown scholar whose discourse on “Fifth Generation Distance Education” has provided the much needed framework for understanding the historical evolution and growing complexity of open and distance learning. He is currently deeply involved in the establishment of the OER University which will provide free access to higher education to students in all parts of the world using OER learning materials. Professor Taylor’s contribution to higher education, distance education and Open Education Resources (OER) is widely recognised. He is a recipient of many awards. These include: “Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia” for distinguished service to Tertiary education, particularly open learning, on-line and distance education, “Australian Higher Education Quality Award”, for meritorious service to quality advancement in Australian higher education; and the “ICDE Individual Prize of Excellence” for his significant contribution to research and development in the field of open and distance learning.

It is in recognition of his many contributions to higher education, distance education and open education resources that Professor Jim Taylor is hereby conferred with the title of Honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning.

Citation read at The Excellence in Distance Education Awards Ceremony at the Seventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning – Abuja, Nigeria, 3 December 2013.