Ronald Horan

In honour of his work with these students and in regard to the history of the school in general, in 2007 the Ron Horan History Room was inaugurated by the 1955 year students.

Horan was posthumously awarded the OAM in 2000, and in 2001 an annual award was established in his honour in French studies the Ron Horan Prize for French through the Faculty of Arts at Sydney University.

After he had retired he wrote books about the school with Fort Street, the School (1989) being followed by Maroon and Silver (1999).

With John Wheeler, he co-authored Senior French in two volumes, first published in 1961, later to become A New French Course, in five volumes, that is still a standard in school education and the University of the Third Age. This junior to senior French textbook chronicled the life of the Ravel family and is still in print. Later, with John Slinn, he co-authored A New German Course in two parts. And still later, after his retirement, Horan wrote the English Series, an exploration of the English language for all learners comprising Spelling English, Exploring English and Using English. This series is in its second edition in hard copy and new e-book format.

In the mid 1960s, in co-operation with the Phillips Corporation, he built one of the first Language Laboratories in the world at Fort Street. He also recorded vinyl disc, magnetic tape and cassette recordings to accompany these resources.

In 1949 Ron Horan married Elmire and they had two sons, Rodney and David. The family lived in the Hills area of Sydney.

Ronald Stephen Horan (Sydney, 27 August 1924 – 7 September 1999) was an Australian linguist, educator and author for over forty years. He was the author of language course texts in three languages, both on his own and with two co-authors. He was later in his life a historian, particularly of Fort Street High School in Sydney, Australia. Horan was posthumously awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2000, and in 2001 an annual award in French studies was established in his honour, "the Ron Horan Prize for French", through the Faculty of Arts at Sydney University.