About Me

 

Dr Noel Preston AM (b. December 15, 1941) is an ethicist and retired Uniting Church minister,  currently Adjunct Professor in Applied Ethics, Griffith University.  He retired in November 2004 as the founding Director of the Unitingcare Queensland Centre for Social Justice. Previously (from 1987–2001) he held senior academic positions as Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University in the fields of Applied and Professional Ethics with a special research interest in Ethics and Government. From 1995-7 Noel was President of the Australian Association of Professional and Applied Ethics. He has been a regular public commentator on social ethics and  is currently an advisor to the Progressive Christian Network in Queensland and a member of the Australian Earth Charter Committee.

 

In 2004 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the community in the field of ethics. In his capacity as a social justice campaigner since the early 1970s and as a Minister of the Uniting Church he has previously held leadership roles in various church social justice portfolios including inaugural Convenor of the Uniting Church’s Assembly Commission on Social Responsibility, Queensland Director of Action for World Development and Executive Officer of the Victorian Synod Division of Social Justice.  Noel was the founding chair/convenor of the Queensland social action groups Concerned Christians (1976), People for Nuclear Disarmament(1983), Citizens Against Corruption (1988). In 2006 he published a memoir/social history (Beyond the Boundary: a memoir exploring ethics, politics and spirituality, Zeus Publications).

 

Noel’s academic qualifications are: Cert.Teach. (KGCAE), BA., BD.,(Uni of Qld) , M.Ed (Hons.) (UNE), Th.D. (Boston University)

 

Noel is a grandfather and father of two daughters and a son. He shares retirement in Brisbane's Bayside with his wife Olga Harris. Apart from writing, Noel's interests in retirement include gardening, choir singing, hospital chaplaincy, performances of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra  and sport with his grand-children.

 

email: nwpresto@gmail.com