The University of Queensland community is remembering the achievements of activist, academic and author, Adjunct Associate Professor Merle Thornton AM.

Dr Thornton died peacefully on Friday 16 August, aged 93.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Deborah Terry AC said Dr Thornton was a catalyst for significant changes for women in Australia, and the University’s Merle Pledge reflects her long career campaigning for equality for women.

“Through her courage and conviction, Merle changed the course of women’s lives by helping to remove barriers that prevented women’s full participation in Australian workplaces,” Professor Terry said. 

“Among her many accomplishments, she had a distinguished academic career in philosophy and was a pioneer of the University’s Women’s Studies (now Gender Studies) discipline. 

“She continues to be an inspiration for gender equity at UQ and we pay tribute to her through the University’s Merle Pledge, which aims to improve women’s representation in public and professional forums as part of advancing gender equity in academia and other occupations. 

“Our thoughts are with her family, friends and those in our community who had the privilege of knowing and learning from her.” 

Dr Thornton was a UQ postgraduate student and lecturer when she became famous for chaining herself to a bar at Brisbane’s Regatta Hotel with friend Rosalie Bognor in 1965 to protest laws which prohibited women from drinking in a public bar.

The action led her to establish the Equal Opportunities for Women Association (EOWA), and its advocacy saw the repeal of the ‘marriage bar’ in the Commonwealth and Queensland public services and influenced the decision to introduce equal pay for equal work during the 1960s.

The EOWA also enabled Women’s Studies to be established as its own discipline within the Philosophy Department at UQ in 1973, an equal first in Australia with Flinders University.

UQ awarded Dr Thornton an Honorary Doctor of Letters in November 2020 – 55 years after the famous moment at the Regatta Hotel, which made national headlines.

Women from the University celebrated Dr Thornton’s honorary doctorate by gathering at the Regatta Hotel, in a corner aptly named "Merle's Bar".

Dr Thornton is survived by her son Harold and daughter, Australian actress Sigrid Thornton, and grandchildren Ben and Jaz. 

Image above left: Merle Thornton AM in Sydney in 1948