Ron Horan was born in Sydney and had his secondary education at Fort Street Boys High School just before and in the early years of the Second World War. He then entered the Faculty of Arts at The University of Sydney but interrupted his studies to serve in the Royal Australian Air Force for three years. After the war he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in French (Honours) and German. He also gained a Diploma in Education. After a short appointment at Sydney Boys High School he joined the staff of Fort Street, where he taught for 36 years. Many of those years were spent as modern languages master and later as deputy principal. His teaching subjects were French, German and English.
Throughout his career, Ron demonstrated great practical concern for correct English spelling, the importance of which is often neglected in schools. As a practical guide for students he compiled the Fort Street Speller, which is presented to all pupils upon their arrival at the school. The guide has made its way into many avenues of public administration.
Ron Horan has also been actively involved in the broader sphere of education. He served for ten years as a teacher and deputy principal at the Eastwood Evening College and then for another 22 years as its principal. His contribution to the teaching of foreign languages has been important. With co-authors, he has published French and German course books, which are widely used in Australia and around the world. Later on in life he authored a series of English Language course books which are widely used in schools and Public Libraries. He served on many education committees, and was president of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations.
Ron was instrumental in the development of Language Lab technology from the mid 1960’s when he worked with Philips to build one of the first Language Labs in the Southern Hemisphere at Fort Street Boys High School.
The Horan – Mobile AV Language Lab™ is the natural extension of this pioneering work.
For his contribution to education and language acquisition Ron was posthumously awarded the OAM (Order of Australia Medal) in 2000.
Ron passed away on 7 September 1999.