Robert French

Robert Shenton French (born ) is an Australian lawyer and judge who served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 2008 to 2017. He has been the chancellor of the University of Western Australia since November 2017. He also held a number of other positions during that time, notably serving as chancellor of Edith Cowan University (1991–1997), chairman of the National Native Title Tribunal (1994–1998), and on the Supreme Court of Fiji (2003–2008). Early life and education French was born in Perth, Western Australia, around 1947. He was educated at St. Louis School (now John XXIII College) in Perth. In 1964 he was one of two students from Western Australia to attend the International Science School, then known as the Nuclear Research Foundation Summer Science School, at the University of Sydney. French attended the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1968. He then continued with further study at the University of Western Australia, earning a Bachelor of Laws in 1971. He said later that he had enrolled in law "with no particular idea of being a lawyer", but after realising that he "was not going to be a great theoretical physicist". He was president of the university's Liberal Club at UWA. French is well-known as a fan of science fiction.