John Bloomfield

John Bloomfield (12 December 1932 – 1 October 2022) was an Australian sport and sport science academic and author. Bloomfield played a crucial role in the development of the Australian high performance sport system between 1973 and 1989, particularly in relation to the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Sports Commission. While active in the above, he lectured and conducted research at the University of Western Australia and, from time to time, in North America and Eastern and Western Europe.

Personal Bloomfield was born on 12 December 1932. In 1959, he married Noelene Watt and they have two sons - Ken and Alan and one daughter - Leigh. In 1967, he was awarded a PhD at the University of Oregon and was appointed to The University of Western Australia(UWA) in 1968 to head up its new Physical Education program. In 1974, he became the Foundation Professor in the then Department of Human Movement, becoming Australia's first professor to specialize in sport and exercise science. He won the Belt Race at The Royal International Carnival in 1954 at Bondi, New South Wales; and in 1956 he won a silver medal in the Surf Race at the International and Australian Surf Championship Carnival, Torquay, Victoria> The carnival was a display event held during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. He wrote a book titled Know How to Surf.

In 1972 the Whitlam Government commissioned him to prepare a White Paper on the development of sport in Australia and this became extremely influential in the establishment of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra in 1981. The white paper titled Role and scope and development of recreation in Australia. He prepared two reports that lead to the establishment of the Western Australian Department of Sport and Western Australian Institute of Sport. Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 1982 Foundation Fellow, Sports Medicine Australia (FSMA) 1984 Fellow, Royal Society of Biology, UK, 1985. Awarded Life Fellowship (FRSB), 2004 Honorary Doctorate of the University, Queensland University of Technology, (Hon DUniv) 2002 Foundation Fellow, Australian Association for Exercise and Sports Science (FAAESS) 2002 John Graham Award, Outstanding service to sport and recreation in WA, Government of Western Australia, 2003 Honorary Doctorate of Science of The University of Western Australia (Hon.DSc) 2005 Induction into the National Sports Museum, Melbourne, 2008 Induction into Kiama Sports Honour Roll, 2014- Officer of the Order of Australia, 2020