Professor Gary Foley
PhD (UniMelb),
BA Hons (UniMelb)
Professor, Moondani Balluk
Indigenous Academic Unit
Gary Foley was born in Grafton, northern NSW of Gumbainggir descent. Expelled from school aged 15, Foley went to Sydney as an apprentice draughts person. He was then involved in the establishment of the first Aboriginal self-help and survival organisations including Redfern’s Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Health Service in Melbourne, National Black Theatre.
Late in life Foley completed his BA with first class Honours in History in 2002. Between 2005 and 2008 he was a lecturer/tutor in the Education Faculty of University of Melbourne.
In 2012 he completed at PhD in History at the University of
Melbourne for which he won the prestigious Chancellor’s
Award for Excellence. He has worked at Victoria University
since 2008, where he was appointed Professor of History in 2015.