Charities Community Organisations Associations

Vale Mark Lyons

Zelda Tupicoff November 5, 2009

< 1 min read

Lyons pioneered the study of nonprofit organisations and philanthropy in Australia.

His influential book Third Sector: the contribution of nonprofit and cooperative enterprises in Australia was the first comprehensive study of Australia’s third sector.

Over the years Lyons immersed himself in the sector with involvement in several government committees and directorships of several nonprofit organisations including a stint as executive director of the Australian Council of Social Service (1986-1989). These experiences, coupled with his research, gave him the very deepest understanding of the sector.

Lyons was on the staff of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) for 30 years, retiring in 2004 as Professor of Social Economy. While there, he was foundation director of the Centre for Australian Community Organisations and Management (CACOM).

Lyons final paper on measuring social impact in the third sector, written with Gianni Zappala, will be published by CSI next week.

Our thoughts are with Mark Lyon’s family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.