[6] At the University of Oxford, Spence obtained his DPhil degree in law and became a fellow of St Catherine's College.
[10] In 2018, the Sydney Morning Herald reported concerns by the National Tertiary Education Union that the size of Spence's salary was "positioning him as a CEO of a corporate entity".
Jake Lynch, one of the initiators of the motion, said Spence had circumvented due process and accountability by setting the consultation date during a time when committees do not meet.
[15] In 2013, when a visit from the Dalai Lama was planned, the university warned organisers not to use its logo, allow media coverage or entry to the event by Tibet activists.
[16] In August 2019, Spence warned that debate over the university's and the wider community's relationship with China should not have overtones of the "White Australia policy".
[20] The Ramsay Centre eventually walked away from the negotiations in December 2019 after rejecting a proposal to use the university's existing staff and courses.
Petersen, originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was reading philosophy and theology after studying and rowing at Smith College in Massachusetts.
[26] In 2014, Spence began dating Jenny Ihn, an artist and PhD student at the University of Sydney, whom he later married.