Melbourne Law School alumnus, the Hon. Alex Chernov AO QC, has been sworn in as the new Governor of Victoria.
FORMER Supreme Court judge and University of Melbourne Chancellor Mr Alex Chernov was inaugurated last month as the 28th Governor of Victoria.
"We congratulate Mr Chernov and wish him well as he begins his new appointment," said Dean of Melbourne Law School, Professor Carolyn Evans.
"He has been a great supporter and champion of the Law School and has inspired many law students. He is an excellent choice for Governor of Victoria and will carry out his new role with great distinction."
From migrant beginnings, arriving in post-war Australia as a 10-year old boy with his Russian parents, Mr Chernov has shown an unflagging commitment to education and the law.
He studied for his Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree at Melbourne Law School in the 1960s. Addressing his fellow alumni at a reunion last year, he described the sixties as a fortunate decade for law students, when the availability of scholarships and relatively little pressure for places meant that serious study was balanced by a full and energetic student life.
From Melbourne Law School via the Victorian Bar to Melbourne's Government House, Mr Chernov is a former chairman of the Victorian Bar, vice president of the Australian Bar Association and president of the Australian Law Council. In 1997 he was appointed a judge of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria and was appointed to its Court of Appeal in the following year. In 2008 Mr Chernov was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia. He became the twentieth Chancellor of the University of Melbourne in 2009.
Speaking at his inauguration last month, Mr Chernov expressed hope that his professional background would provide a useful foundation for discharging the legal and constitutional duties associated with his new role as the 28th Governor of Victoria.
The new Governor said he was looking forward to the task of facilitating the advancement of the life and interests of Victoria, a state which he commended for its commitment to promoting harmony amongst all cultural groups.
"Just as my parents have found, each wave of settlers has been made welcome here, and each had made a positive contribution to our community," said Mr Chernov.
Mr Chernov takes over from Professor David de Kretser AC, whose five-year term ended in April.
Image: Governor of Victoria, the Hon. Alex Chernov AO QC.
Source: Photograph courtesy of Government House Victoria.