the seahorse alumni magazine edition 2, 2012

INSIDETHIS EDITION

Campus News A day in the life of a graduate Graduation Glimpses

2012 Alumni Awards Alumni in Print Win an iPad

The SeAhORSeA m a g a z i n e f o r a l u m n i a n d f r i e n d s o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y

EDITION 2

2012

THE SEAHORSE | 2

EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITOR

ROSEMARy THOMSOn

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

TAEgAn REidROSEMARy THOMSOnnicHOlAS TuRnERTHE 2012 AluMni AWARd REciPiEnTS

PRODUCTION & DESIGN

EnniA JOnESTAEgAn REid

The Seahorse is published twice a year for alumni and friends of the university of newcastle. it is produced by the university of newcastle Office of External Relations.

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ON THE COVER

2012 Alumni Medal recipients Associate Professor Mark Parsons (standing) and Professor david currow, pictured with the university of newcastle Vice-chancellor Professor caroline McMillen

cOnTEnTS

4Farewell from the Pro Vice-Chancellor External Relations

Professor Stephen Crump

5 Vale Dr Ken Moss AM

Sixth Chancellor of the University

6Campus News

Keep up to date with what has been happening around campus

82012 Alumni Awards

See the coverage from the 37th annual gala event – recipients, pictures and more

10 & 11 The Alumni Medal Joint Recipients

14Alumni Award for National Leadership Recipient

From Little Things Big Things Grow – A Personal Perspective from Dr Peter Halliday

15Alumni Award for Regional Leadership Recipient

Dr Frances Gentle on opening the doors to learning

192012 Alumni Award Finalists

Meet the finalists

30A day in the life of a Graduate

Find out what other alums are up to

32Graduation Glimpses

Honorary degrees and graduation pictures

40Win An iPad

Simply tell us which graduate featured in this issue of The Seahorse inspired you the most and why!

Printed on recycled paper

5

3010 &116

32

3 | THE SEAHORSE

Today, more than ever, we need community-minded citizens who listen closely, think critically, research thoroughly and who are willing to engage with each other, their communities and make a difference in their world – or support those who can.

In this edition, we are proud to present the finalists and recipients of the 2012 Alumni Awards – a showcase of graduates who so dynamically reflect this style of citizenship.

The value of our personal and collective connections as part of our University community cannot be overstated.

Our sense of belonging and well-being; our learning, knowledge and possibilities; our traditions and heritage; stewardship for the generations that will follow – these are some of the important things which fold into our connections and produce our individual and collective experiences.

These things reside at the core of the relationships between alumni, their university and the communities in which they live.

I offer my sincere gratitude to the Presidents, Committees and Regional Co-ordinators – who are such wonderful stewards of our global alumni network – for their wonderful work, support and friendship this year. Together we thank all our alumni for engaging with us to make the University of Newcastle Alumni Network so unique and special.

The seahorse is a figure that you will have seen from your first day at the University of Newcastle to your last, and that’s what we’ve renamed our alumni magazine – The Seahorse.

When you turn to pages 32 and 33 of this edition, you’ll also see the seahorse has become a real, live mascot – appearing at graduation ceremonies and anywhere else he can. His name? Godfrey, in recognition of the late Professor Godfrey Tanner.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season with your families and friends, and look forward to seeing you in 2013.

Rosemary Thomson Associate Director External Relations Leading University Alumni Relations

One of the real highlights in my first year as Vice-Chancellor has been to meet so many of our alumni and learn more about your endeavours. I have visited many Chapters in Australia and overseas, and enjoyed hearing about and celebrating your successes.

The University’s 2012 Alumni Awards in October was one of many celebrations and what a great night. The University and the community came together to recognise the achievements of outstanding Newcastle alumni across professional excellence, innovation, creativity and exceptional leadership. This year, our alumni were also recognised overseas at the Australia China Alumni Awards, the Singapore Australia Alumni Awards and the Australian Alumni Awards in Indonesia.

For each of our alumni award recipients, I know that there are thousands of Newcastle graduates who are making their mark in their field of endeavour. A university’s reputation depends in large part on the calibre of its alumni, and through your success and achievements, you are playing a valuable role in building our global standing.

In 2012, the University also celebrated success with our ranking in the top three per cent of universities in the world by The Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings. Both The Times Higher Education and QS also ranked Newcastle in the top 50 universities in the world under the age of 50, highlighting that we are a young institution that is on the rise and among the ‘ones to watch’.

Your achievements are making an important contribution to shaping the University into the world-class institution we are today. I look forward to continuing to work with our alumni community to strengthen the University’s global leadership and our contribution to the economic development and social cohesion of all of our regional communities.

Before signing off, I would like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of our Pro Vice-Chancellor (External Relations), Professor Stephen Crump, who is retiring early in the new year. Through the work of Professor Crump and his team, we have strengthened our connections with our communities and established the University’s global leadership in the field of community engagement. Professor Crump will be pursuing his research in Europe, and I wish him the very best for the next exciting phase of his career.

Caroline McMillen Vice-Chancellor and President

FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR

FROM MY DESK TO YOURS

Engaging with our communities is an intrinsic part of the University’s mission. Locally, nationally and globally we strive to connect across business and industry, community organisations and with our alumni. With such a breadth of reach and with a multitude of engagement purposes, this is a task of considerable proportions. This was in the front of our minds when the community engagement office in External Relations developed an initiative to facilitate and streamline the University’s engagement activities. And so, in August, Engage Newcastle was launched.

Engage Newcastle is an online space designed to help our local and global communities to connect, access, share and work with the University of Newcastle. A virtual “front door”, if you will. Engage Newcastle delivers engagement stories from across the University – from every faculty and school, from students and staff. It also gathers and shares stories from around the world across the tertiary education, research and engagement spheres.

The strategies from the University’s NeW Directions draft plan have, at their heart, our aspirations to be a global leader in each of our spheres of achievement while ensuring our students are engaged and work-ready upon graduation. Engagement with our alumni, our community and partners is already instrumental in the fulfilment of these aspirations. It is through partnerships that we can ensure world-class innovation to support the development of strong regional communities.

And so, with External Relations strongly positioned, I feel confident of its future strength as I retire next February from the University of Newcastle to pursue my research program

and academic interests. Initially, I have accepted a role with the Nyenrode Business University in The Netherlands and will work closely with the University of London and Kristianstad University in Sweden sharing Newcastle’s expertise in work integrated learning and community engagement. Our work in these areas continues to be noticed, with universities around the world observing our activities and leadership in these areas, keen to learn from our experiences. To ensure a continuing exchange, I will take up an Adjunct Professor position and remain closely connected with our University.

It has been a privilege to meet so many of our alumni across Australia and abroad, and I have particularly enjoyed helping to establish the London Alumni during my visits as a Fellow to the University of London – I will look forward to continuing that connection during future visits.

With the hard work and commitment of my teams, I believe we have made an important contribution to providing more opportunities for people in our local regions to enter higher education, and to enhancing the University’s national and international standing in community engagement – of course, our alumni contribute so much of value to this work, and collectively we make a difference to the future of both our University and our regions.

Professor Stephen Crump Pro Vice-Chancellor External Relations

FAREWEll FROM THE PRO VicE-cHAncEllOR EXTERnAl RElATiOnS

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Professor Stephen Crump has been a senior leader at the University since 2006. He has been the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Director of the Central Coast and Port Macquarie campuses since that time and the Pro Vice-Chancellor, External Relations since 2010. He will retire in February 2013 to pursue his research interests with leading universities in Europe.

FAREWEll FROM THE PRO VicE-cHAncEllOR EXTERnAl RElATiOnS

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The University of Newcastle mourns the loss of our sixth Chancellor, Dr Kenneth Moss, who passed away in October.

Dr Moss was a leader of great integrity who was deeply committed to our University, to the city of Newcastle and to the region. A Newcastle alumnus, he graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree (Hons) in 1968 and a Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering in 1974. Dr Moss was a foundation board member of the Hunter Medical Research Institute from 2000 to 2004. He had been a member of the University Council since 2010, and commenced as Chancellor in May this year.

Dr Moss held leadership positions across the maritime services, mining, manufacturing and engineering sectors. He started his professional life with BHP at its Newcastle steelworks, and completed his career as the managing director of global maritime company, Howard Smith.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution, Dr Moss was made a member of the Order of Australia for services to business in the mining, financial and property development sectors, and for services to the community through contributions to maritime, educational and health organisations.

As a member of the Council and in the role of Chancellor, Dr Moss provided invaluable leadership and support to our University. His passing is a great loss, and he will be deeply missed by our Council, and the staff, students and alumni of the University of Newcastle.

Picture top right: President of Alumni and Pro Chancellor, Mr Brian Kennaugh and former Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor John Tate enrobe the sixth Chancellor

Middle: Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO Governor of New South Wales congratulates Dr Moss

VAlE dR KEn MOSS AM SiXTH cHAncEllOR OF THE uniVERSiTy

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cAMPuS nEWS

CHAMBER CHOIR HITS THE RIGHT NOTE The University of Newcastle’s Chamber Choir has further cemented its place among the world’s best, winning three silver medals at the recent World Choir Games in Cincinnati, USA. Battling against a number of decorated choral groups, the Chamber Choir picked up medals in the contemporary, mixed choir and religious music categories.

Thanks to this fantastic result, the Chamber Choir has seen its world choral ranking improve to sixth spot. Choir director, Phillip Matthias said this performance had thrust Newcastle onto the world stage. “After Cincinnati, the best in the world know who we are and are excited to see more,” Dr Matthias said.

PAVING THE WAY If you’re looking for a more permanent way to leave your mark on the University of Newcastle, the Graduates’ Walk may just be for you. Starting between the Library and the Shortland Union, the Graduates’ Walk will wind its way from the heart of the University to the Great Hall.

Already, 138 pavers representing the first 138 graduates of our University have been installed. Soon, you will be able to buy your own paver. This paver, inscribed with your name, degree and year of graduation, will be laid in new sections of the Walk. The cost of each paver will contribute towards scholarships to help future students here at UoN.

To purchase your paver newcastle.edu.au/alumni/acknowledging-alumni/graduates-walk

NEWCASTLE SCORES WORLD RANKINGS HAT TRICK The University of Newcastle scored a hat trick in the 2012 in global university rankings.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the QS World University Rankings placed Newcastle in the top three per cent of universities in the world; and the Academic Ranking of World Universities placed UoN in the top four per cent. In 2012, the Times Higher Education and QS also ranked the University in the top 50 universities in the world under the age of 50.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen, said the University’s strong results in the 2012 rankings provided authoritative, independent evidence that Newcastle’s reputation as a world-class institution was building.

“Our academic and research performance has been weighed against the world’s best – the Ivy League and other leading universities in the US, the Russell Group in the UK and the ‘Group of 9’ in China,” Professor McMillen said.

“A significant number of the high ranking universities are 100 years old or more. As a young university under the age of 50 years, achieving these rankings is an excellent result for Newcastle and is testament to our strengthening global leadership.”

UoN Chamber Choir performing at the United Nations, New York City - photo courtesy of Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Inc

http://newcastle.edu.au/alumni/acknowledging-alumni/graduates-walk/

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UNIVERSITY APPOINTS NEW LEADER FOR BUSINESS AND LAWOne of Australia’s leading business and organisational development researchers and academics now heads the Faculty of Business and Law. Professor Richard Dunford was appointed as the Pro Vice-Chancellor in April this year, commencing in the position on 16 July.

Professor Dunford was the Head of the discipline of International Business and Professor of Business Strategy at the University of Sydney Business School. Prior to this he was the Dean of the Macquarie School of Management.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen, said the University was fortunate to have secured a candidate of such high calibre to lead the Faculty of Business and Law.

“During his time as Dean of the Macquarie School of Management it was ranked number 1 in Australia and Asia, and in the top 50 in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit.”

“Professor Dunford brings extensive knowledge, experience and professional connections to Newcastle that will significantly contribute to the next important phase of the development of teaching and research in business and in law.”

YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARNEighty-six-year-old Dr Joyce Barry, Master of Arts 2003, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) 1997, Bachelor of Arts 1994, accepted her PhD at the Faculty of Education and Arts graduation ceremony on 5 October. Joyce celebrated her achievement with her six sons who were in attendance to witness the special occasion.

Over two days we welcomed more than 1000 new graduates to the global alumni network.

Congratulations to Joyce and our newest alums on the completion of their studies.

NEWCASTLE CONTRIBUTES TO PANCREATIC CANCER DISCOVERY A University of Newcastle researcher has played an integral part in a large-scale study that has discovered pancreatic cancer is not just one disease, but many.

The University of Newcastle’s Dr Chris Scarlett, who is also affiliated with the Garvan Institute, was part of the international team of more than 100 researchers who sequenced the genomes of 100 pancreatic tumours and compared them with normal tissue to determine the genetic changes that lead to pancreatic cancer.

Study leader Professor Sean Grimmond, from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland said the study results demonstrated that so-called “pancreatic cancer” was not one disease, but many, and suggested that people who seemingly had the same cancer might need to be treated quite differently.

Based at the University’s Central Coast campus in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Dr Scarlett said it was rewarding to be involved in a landmark cancer discovery.

“This is the largest collaborative pancreatic cancer study ever undertaken and this finding will have a massive impact on the way pancreatic cancer patients are treated. Being part of this research, among a group of leading Australian scientists, has been extremely satisfying,” he said.

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2012 ALUMNI AWARDSFROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW

They came from afar – Abu Dhabi, New York, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

They came cross-country – the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Melbourne and Canberra – and from across the State.

Newcastle’s picturesque City Hall swelled with sound and light as guests filled the concert hall to capacity to celebrate at the 37th Alumni Awards.

Artists alongside a fashion designer, corporate leaders rubbing shoulders with neuroscientists, electrical engineers and teachers – the room rejoiced with the accomplishments of so many who call the University of Newcastle home. City leaders, University staff, students and alumni, stopped to recognise the achievements of our graduates and enjoyed an evening of collective pride.

The central theme for the 2012 Alumni Awards “From little things big things grow” explored the thought that, from what can seem like a minor decision at the time, a major outcome will often result.

In keeping with the theme, the Waratah Girls Junior Choir captivated guests with its opening performance I am a Small Part of the World. During the evening, award-winning musician, composer and producer, alumnus Phil Tweed (Bachelor of Music 1995), performed his acclaimed piano instrumental Cascade. Newcastle graduates Jess O’Dea (Bachelor of Teaching and Health & Physical Education 2010), Holly Clayton (Bachelor of Communications 2007), Clare Rooney (Bachelor of Development Studies 2010), Stuart Brown (Bachelor of Music 2004) and current music student Joel Proctor then joined Phil to sing his special arrangement for the evening of Climb Every Mountain – clearly Newcastle graduates are multi-talented if the delighted applause was an indication.

Check out the photo gallery from the gala event newcastle.edu.au/alumni/acknowledging-alumni/alumni-awards

newcastle.edu.au/alumni/acknowledging-alumni/alumni-awards

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Across society, the way that we provide care for the marginalised and voiceless is a key measure of our humanity. One such marginalised group is people who face an expected death from a progressive serious illness such as cancer, heart failure or emphysema.

As a community, the way we die has changed substantially over the past century. At the turn of the 20th century it was 20-30 times more likely that a child would not reach the age of five. Maternal death was common. Deaths from infectious diseases that are now either treated through immunisation or antibiotics were common. Trauma frequently led to death through infections or other complications which we can now easily deal with. Although a small number of people lived to an old age, they were the exception and not the rule.

The middle of the 20th century brought unbridled optimism that many of the health issues that have plagued society could be eradicated. Such expectations were right in so many ways. The increase in life expectancy in the second half of the 20th century was unprecedented in the history of mankind.

This increase in life expectancy in just one generation has also fundamentally changed that way that we die. As the 21st century unfolds, in resource rich countries we are dying fundamentally different deaths. We are now mostly dying from the progression of chronic, complex diseases. Death is still seen as a “failure” by many clinicians in their day-to-day practice and yet the number of times that death is a direct result of medical misadventure is incredibly small.

Such radical changes in the disease trajectories of many people, and the continuing portrayal of death as a failure of medical science played out in darkened side rooms of large Victorian wards, bore a new speciality – palliative care. Such a new specialty also recognised that we have in many ways, as a community, lost the language and customs that we can use to support each other as people face expected death. Yet a death from the progression of a chronic, complex disease is the death that most of us will face because of the health successes of the last century. After all, we have to die of something.

Ensuring the quality of care for people at the end of life requires the same rigour and focused research that any other area of clinical practice does. We need to improve the quality of care through expanding the evidence base in order to optimise the function and comfort (physical, social, sexual, existential, emotional) of people facing the end of life, their families and their professional caregivers.

Palliative care does this and is facilitating important conversations that otherwise would not occur or would occur too late. The challenge is to ensure that we invest in quality care at the end of life with the same enthusiasm that we invest in the latest silver bullet to treat diseases that have, until now, seemed untreatable.

Ultimately, the health and well-being of caregivers, while in the role and having completed their task, will be a measure of the benefits of palliative care that sits alongside excellent physical symptom control and psycho-social support for patients facing the end of life.

2012 AluMni MEdAl (JOinT REciPiEnT)PROFESSOR DAVID CURROW Chief Executive Officer Cancer Institute New South Wales

New South Wales Chief Cancer Officer

Bachelor of Medicine 1988 Faculty of Health

Newcastle-born medical specialist Professor David Currow is the CEO of the Cancer Institute of NSW and Chief Cancer Officer in NSW. He is a Professor of Palliative and Supportive Services at Flinders University (SA) and an Honorary Professor of Sydney University and the University of Technology, Sydney.

David’s career has been an exercise in commitment to improving the quality of care for people at the end of their lives. His impact is evident in policy and service development, research and teaching throughout Australia and the world.

With more than 240 publications to his name, David was recently rated one of the top 10 most published palliative care researchers in the world. He and four other editors are currently working on the next edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine – the highest-selling textbook in the field.

David is the principal investigator on the Australian government-funded Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative – the world’s largest clinical trials group in palliative care.

In recognition of his contribution to palliative care, David gave the 2011 Dame Cicely Saunders Oration at the Kings College, London.

DYING WELL IN THE 21ST CENTURYBy Professor David Currow

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I recently led a study undertaken by the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI)Stroke Research Group that pioneered a new clot-busting drug therapy which has achieved significant treatment benefits for acute stroke victims.

Our findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 22 March this year, showed two-thirds of patients treated with the drug Tenecteplase demonstrated major neurological improvement within 24 hours and 72 per cent experienced excellent or good recovery three months after their stroke.

This was about twice the success rate of administering the standard drug Alteplase (tPA)

The results took us by surprise. Treatment with Tenecteplase resulted in impressive benefits over the standard treatment with Alteplase.

With Alteplase we have seen a few dramatic outcomes, but using a higher dosage of Tenecteplase there were some “Lazarus-like” responses where the patient almost rose off the bed in a miraculous recovery. We saw patients severely affected by stroke returning to normal function within two or three days.

Our research group co-ordinated the study at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital, with Royal Melbourne and Box Hill hospitals in Victoria also involved.

We used a rigorous selection criterion, with advanced CT perfusion imaging helping us identify patients mostly likely to benefit from

clot-busting treatment. Almost 2800 people with acute stroke symptoms were screened within six hours of onset – of these, 75 were enrolled in the study.

Our study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council following initial grants from HMRI, which also funded previous CT imaging research integral in patient selection for this Tenecteplase trial.

Our team is applying for additional funding for a larger scale project with international partners to test if Tenecteplase is superior to Alteplase in the broader stroke patient population.

If we are successful in our funding application, the project will be the largest ever clinical trial to be co-ordinated in the Hunter region.

We have to see if this drug benefits stroke patients in the “real world” who may be less likely to experience the dramatic benefits seen in our current study but who, nonetheless, may still have some improvement.

To prove that Tenecteplase is superior to Alteplase in the broader stroke patient population means we need a much larger study which, of course, also requires more funding and large-scale international collaboration.

The future is looking very promising, but we need to do a larger trial before we can have this treatment available for all acute stroke patients.

2012 AluMni MEdAl (JOinT REciPiEnT)ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARK PARSONS Senior Staff Specialist in Neurology John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle

Associate Professor in Medicine Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle

Director of University of Newcastle Stroke Research Program


Clinical neurologist Mark Parsons, senior staff specialist at John Hunter Hospital, is a rare breed – not only a highly regarded researcher, but also a clinically experienced neurologist with specialist training in cutting-edge brain imaging technologies.

Mark is the director of the University of Newcastle’s Stroke Research Program and founder of the John Hunter’s stroke imaging research laboratory.

His internationally recognised work in thrombolysis (clot-dissolving) treatment aims to reduce irreversible damage to brain tissue in the 48 hours following a stroke.

For his experiences in research and practical application, Mark has become a sought-after speaker, mentor and instructor in Australia and across the globe. His award-winning work developing an ambulance protocol in the Hunter Region for rapid identification, prehospital notification and transport of patients to a specialist stroke centre has resulted in 21 per cent of patients receiving thrombolytic therapy.

Mark was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1999 and was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy in 2003.

A PROMISING FUTURE FOR STROKE RECOVERYBy Associate Professor Mark Parsons

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2012 nEWTOn-JOHn AWARd REciPiEnTLINDA BERGSKAS Director and CEO Guanabana Designs

Bachelor of Visual Communication Design 2002 Faculty of Science and Information Technology

Ms Linda Bergskas is the Norwegian-born designer and businesswoman behind rising fashion label Guanabana Designs, which debuted at Australian Fashion Week in 2010.

Linda’s unique style is heavily influenced by her affinity with animals, nature and exotic cultures. She is a gifted artist and a trained graphic designer, who turned her creative attentions to fashion in 2003.

Using her own artworks as inspiration, Linda creates unique pieces defined by their detail, use of colour and graphic prints. Influences of time spent in exotic locations are captured in her collections.

Since Linda’s first selling trip in 2007, Guanabana has gone global. Guanabana now produces four collections each year and is stocked in more than 100 stores in Australia, Japan, the US and Norway. Excelling in a fiercely contested market, the label has featured in 41 magazines and other publications worldwide and is worn by numerous high-profile celebrities, including tennis great Serena Williams and local novocastrian and former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins.

Twelve years ago Linda arrived at Sydney Airport a confused Norwegian from a small village – a stranger in a strange land – about to discover that “they’re a weird mob”. Her story is one of overcoming challenges and making a life in Australia.

At the airport, I walked into a kiosk to buy a bottle of water, and after pouring the dollars I had onto the counter for the shop assistant to pick what he needed, he said as I left “see you later”. Not realising it was a friendly saying, I responded by saying “NO!”.

Then, looking around confused wondering about how to get to Newcastle, a stranger offered to carry my luggage.

I did not understand what the stranger was saying so I shooed him away thinking he was trying to steal my suitcase.

Many more misunderstandings followed, however, it did not take me many more days to realise that Australians were just very friendly and that I wanted to make it my home. I could see opportunities here that I would not have had at home.

After battling through Uni, I struggled to find work as my English was still a hindrance,

so I decided to create my own job. Being a fashion designer had always been a big dream, but I never thought it would be a realistic way to make a living.

Being young, free-spirited and willing to take a risk, I started up my own retail store sewing some of my own products. Two years later I set up a factory in Bali, followed by a wholesale and distribution centre in Australia with in-house reps supplying my brand to fashion stores nationwide and internationally.

It has been a combination of very hard work, a lot of fun, lots of travel, amazing experiences and life lessons that have shaped me to become a far more capable person that I ever thought I could be.

My business has changed from being a hobby that provided a bit of money to a serious business. My biggest challenge is that as the business grows, the pressure grows, the financial responsibilities grow and the creative mind gets challenged. Now, my focus is to find a way to allow myself more creative time but, most importantly, finding the balance between work and family as I recently became a mum.

Victoria Secret model Shanina Shaik carrying an albino snake at Guanabana’s Fashion Week show

Linda with her husband Surian and baby Sol in Bali, where her label’s manufacturing operations are located

FROM NEWCASTLE TO THE WORLDBy Linda Bergskas

The inaugural 1975 Newton-John Award recipient the Hon. Allan Morris presented the 2012 Newton-John Award to Linda Bergskas

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2012 AluMni AWARd FOR inTERnATiOnAl lEAdERSHiP REciPiEnTTIFFANy SEEExecutive Director, Human Resources Commercial Business Unit, Dell Inc.

Bachelor of Commerce 1996 Faculty of Business and Law

In 2001, Tiffany was appointed human resources manager at Dell Inc.’s operations in Penang. Dell Inc. is one of the world’s largest IT companies, with annual revenue of $US60billion and 85,000 employees.

In 2003, as senior manager in Dell’s Singapore office, she developed the Future Leaders Program for key talent at the director’s level – the program was later adopted globally across Dell Inc. and is still in use today.

Tiffany was appointed the youngest-ever female executive director with Dell in 2007, responsible for more than 10,000 employees and leading organisational change management.

In January 2012, Tiffany was appointed executive director, human resources for Dell’s commercial business unit across the Asia-Pacific and Japan.

Tiffany personally provides a scholarship for disadvantaged women to complete their university studies. She has also developed community based initiatives for Dell’s Asia Pacific leadership team extending their philanthropic work across the region. Projects include women’s literacy and vocational skills, children’s environmental awareness, and environmental restoration and waste management.

Any cursory examination of the realms of Australian politics, industry and public service might lead to the conclusion that women have broken through glass ceilings to grasp the leadership baton that for decades has proved elusive.

Australia has a female Prime Minister and Governor-General, women leading industry bodies such as the Business Council of Australia and corporations – for example, Westpac. Our University also has its first female Vice-Chancellor and other successful women occupy the key leadership position in universities across Australia.

Yet, if you dig a little deeper, you discover that women remain under represented in senior executive positions and on company boards throughout Australia. This challenge, of course, is not confined to Australia, but is evident to varying degrees around the globe.

The explanations for this under-representation are many and are deeply embedded in history, socioeconomics and culture.

As a female executive working in human resources for an American multi-national corporation, it has become an increasing concern to me that in spite of being a progressive organisation, we, like many other large corporations, suffer from a shortage of talented female leaders. That’s why I decided to create a leadership development program specifically focused on women.

What started as an idea in a cafeteria in

a Singapore business school has since become a global program for female leaders at senior management level. The program was developed in partnership with INSEAD and Professor Deborah M. Kolb, a leading expert in gender and leadership at Simmons School of Management in the USA.

The program is built on a strong foundation of research and literature on gender issues in leadership. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, “education is power”, so one of our key objectives was to provide participants with an external perspective by profiling other female leaders’ career journeys, reviewing the research on gender dilemmas and developing strategies for addressing these.

Going through the program myself as a participant, I realised that there was so much I did not know about gender and leadership! I discovered that it was important to reflect on your own career and to consider where you are today, how you have reacted at different inflection points in your life and to have a strategy of where you wish your career to go. It is also important that women develop strong negotiation and networking skills, so they build sponsorship within an organisation.

My fervent hope is that this program will play a role in empowering our talented women to imagine new possibilities for themselves and provide an edge over competitors unable or unwilling to realise the talent that lies across the gender divide.

Tiffany at Dell’s first Women in Leadership Program in 2011, pictured with the first group of women to go through the program and with Mr Amit Midha President, Asia-Pacific Japan, Dell Inc – the program has since been adopted as a core offering across the company globally

EMPOWERING WOMEN LEADERSBy Tiffany See

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2012 AluMni AWARd FOR nATiOnAl lEAdERSHiP REciPiEnTDR PETER HALLIDAy Founder and Managing Director Elite IT Services

doctor of Business Administration 2009 Master of Business 2006 Faculty of Business and Law

Dr Peter Halliday is an expert in safety, criminal intelligence and investigation, maritime policing, emergency management information systems, and planning and development. Much of Peter’s expertise comes from 35 years with the world’s second-largest police agency, the Hong Kong Police Force, from which he retired as Assistant Commissioner.

Peter then established his own firm in Hong Kong, providing consultancy services to the Ministry of Defence in Oman and the Royal Malaysian Police Force which both required top security clearance. He has been the consultant business development director of public safety for Intergraph Asia-Pacific, leading major projects, including the design of the next generation “command and control centre” system for use in health, police, fire and disaster emergency services across Hong Kong, Greater China and Singapore.

Peter is highly decorated, with two Commissioner’s Commendations, the Colonial Medal for Meritorious Service, the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and, more recently, the Bronze Bauhinia Star, an award for outstanding leadership and service over a long period in Hong Kong.

Standing at the rostrum holding the 2012 Alumni Award in my hand – apart from being a moment of pure delight – was a moment for reflection at how one’s journey through life twists and turns in the most unlikely ways, and how one must seize opportunities as they arise.

The twist that led me to Newcastle was in 1986. I had been a career police officer for 20 years by that stage. I started from scratch – as we do – and had a wonderful career of good, tough jobs, almost all in criminal investigation. The promotions were going well, but I’d come to the blinkered stage where I thought that the sun rose and set on crime fighting. I needed to broaden my horizons and get a “bigger picture” of things if I was going to get further. And so I applied for a management development course.

The course I applied for was run by the Hong Kong government and drew about 40 participants from across the government spectrum. The course turned out to be a defining three-month period in my life. It was highly intensive and included the writing of a personal research project.

I had gone along prepared to write something about the evils of organised crime, but the course director in his opening remarks announced that he wanted this particular course to be the prototype of an “exciting new learning experience.” He wanted six volunteers – that he had already chosen – to swap their projects so that six people were researching something they knew little or nothing about. You’ve guessed it! I got to change my project with that of a distinguished consultant psychiatrist. His working title was: “Solve (not, for example, alleviate) the overcrowding problems in Hong Kong’s psychiatric hospitals”.

I have never worked so hard in all my life. It took me a good two months to even get a feel for the problem. I wrote a voluminous report and had to present my findings to the Medical Development Advisory Committee (a very high-powered body). The committee members listened most patiently, nay sagely, as I hectored them on how to reorganise mental health services. But some measures were taken up and today’s psychiatric hospital population is now about half what

it was. Afterwards, the director called the six of us in, acknowledged that he had put us through a nightmarish three months, and announced the “prizes.” We would be sponsored, if we wished, to continue our research to the point of attaining a Masters (in my case) in Hospital Management.

I didn’t have a first degree but was put forward as a mature student. I graduated Master of Social Science in 1990 and went on to gain a PhD in 2000. These activities prepared me for the challenges of the Newcastle Master of Business and Doctor of Business Administration degrees that I undertook.

All of this academic effort served my career admirably, as I rose further to Senior Assistant Commissioner before retirement (one of the “top six”) and now run my own little consulting enterprise. I’ve been told that I had a good dose of luck. I beg to differ. I don’t believe in luck. I believe that to some extent we make our own luck; the harder we strive, the better the chances of getting a break. And as I remarked earlier, when you get a break, you’ve got to go for it!

Thank you, Newcastle.

FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROWA Personal PerspectiveBy Dr Peter Halliday

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2012 AluMni AWARd FOR REgiOnAl lEAdERSHiP REciPiEnTDR FRANCES GENTLE Lecturer, Vision Impairment RIDBC Renwick Centre, Sydney

doctor of Philosophy 2012 Master of Special Education (Sensory disability) Honours 2006 Master of Special Education 1999 Faculty of Education and Arts

Dr Frances Gentle has worked in the education and disability fields for almost 30 years. Frances spent 11 years with the St Edmund’s School for Students with Vision Impairment and Other Special Needs. She has also provided consultative support to staff and students with vision impairment in Catholic independent schools across NSW. Prior to that, she spent time in Japan where she established an English language program for adults with severe vision impairment.

Currently, Frances is an academic, teaching and researching in vision impairment at the RIDBC Renwick Centre in Sydney, where she co-ordinates postgraduate courses in the Master of Special Education (Sensory Disability) and teaches professional education courses in education of children with vision impairment.

Frances is also the Pacific chairperson of the International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) and serves on a significant number of committees in our region. She is a recipient of the Minister’s Award for outstanding contribution to literacy and numeracy in NSW.

When I enrolled in a Master of Special Education with the University of Newcastle and RIDBC Renwick Centre, I never imagined it would lead me to teaching inclusive education and braille literacy in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Timor-Leste and other Asia-Pacific region developing countries.

My experiences as a special education teacher and academic over the past 30 years have highlighted the power of education in providing children with disabilities opportunities to be included in their local communities, schools and work places.

Many parents in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region share similar hopes and dreams for their children with disabilities that Australian parents do. However, learning opportunities in such developing countries as Timor-Leste and PNG are generally constrained by family poverty, childhood malnourishment and social and educational marginalisation due to discriminatory cultural beliefs about the causes of disability.

In Timor-Leste and PNG, about 85 per cent of families live in rural and remote communities where subsistence farming and cash cropping are the most common forms of livelihood. As a result, parents lack the financial resources to send their children with disabilities to school. They do not understand the medical causes of their children’s disabilities and have limited access to health

and welfare services. This situation is further exacerbated by the reticence of schools to enrol children with disabilities due to a lack of teacher training in disability-inclusive teaching methods.

Over the past 10 years, it has been a privilege to work with educators, governments and communities that are dedicated to improving educational opportunities for children with disabilities in the region.

These opportunities have been made possible by the professional training and qualifications I have acquired through the unique affiliation between the University of Newcastle and the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) Renwick Centre at North Rocks in Sydney.

The learning environments of Timor-Leste and PNG may be a long way from the Newcastle campus, but there is little difference in the impact of professional training on classroom pedagogy and learning outcomes for disabled students. Schools in Timor-Leste and PNG may have dirt floors, no electricity or running water, but the excitement and wonder of blind children learning to read and write in braille for the first time leaves an enduring impression on Newcastle graduates like myself who have the privilege of “opening the doors” to learning.

Frances with some of her students in Timor-Leste, May 2012

OPENING THE DOORS TO LEARNINGBy Dr Frances Gentle

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2012 AluMni AWARd FOR EXcEPTiOnAl cOMMuniTy SERVicE REciPiEnTJENNIE THOMAS AM Philanthropist

Newcastle Teachers College 1959 Faculty of Education and Arts

Ms Jennie Thomas is living a life of service – she understands the challenges that life can throw up and has given much of herself to helping others face them.

In her early career as a teacher, she provided her skills to people in need. In the 1970s and ’80s, concerned about the dislocation facing refugees, she played a key role in the development of ESL, migrant and refugee education programs in Victoria. Then, wanting to help those who had not had the benefit of education, she rounded out her teaching career helping mature age students returning to study.

Jennie has a long history of philanthropic support – giving her time, talents and treasure to charities, organisations and individuals around Australia, in West Africa, Fiji, India, Burma and Asia. Since 2002, Jennie has also had a focus on the Hunter – providing significant philanthropic contributions for research and numerous student scholarships in health, science, the environment and the arts, made possible through partnerships with the Hunter Medical Research Institute and the University.

She invests time and energy mentoring her beneficiaries and encourages the sharing of knowledge through her global networks.

Life is full of surprises. One of those was to learn on my return from Burma that I’d been awarded the 2012 Community Service Award by the University of Newcastle alumni. I’m both honoured and deeply humbled by this recognition. For community service is not about “me”, but about “we”. I share this award with my many “dreamers” who, as they work towards their chosen goals, make an important contribution to the wider community.

The value of community spirit was instilled in me as a child. I grew up in a scattered farming community in northern NSW, a community of people who cared for and about each other. Our home was the pivotal point for the village, the small school. Community service was the norm for my parents – their everyday life. Ours was a large family of nine children. We had very few worldly goods but we were given, in my mum’s words, “love and laughter, learning and literature”. We were encouraged to get a scholarship, to go on with our education and to make something of our lives – to follow our dreams and achieve our goals.

My dream was to teach. My career was in migrant and refugee education: teaching and nurturing “new Aussies”, training teachers and writing curriculum. I loved being there for those who needed someone to walk with them as they began a new life in a new country with a new language as they followed their dreams and achieved their goals.

Now, in retirement, I’m described as a philanthropist – meaning a “lover of mankind” – and I do love people. And I’m very aware that I can take nothing with me – there are no pockets in shrouds. By giving even small amounts now, while I can do so with a warm hand, a warm heart and hugs of encouragement, I walk beside a new group of “dreamers” who live in various parts of the world. Each one is working towards achieving their chosen goal. And I have the joy of watching the ripple effect as yet more dreams come true and the giving continues to give.

With Nerida Ackland, who won the Jennie Thomas Travelling Art Scholarship in 2010

With her scholarship finalists at the 2012 Scholars’ Week launch

DREAMERS AT LARGEBy Jennie Thomas AM

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My vision in 2005 to attain a full digital television license owned and controlled by Aboriginal people to benefit all Indigenous people is now a reality in 2012. To achieve this required exhaustive work, passion and the dedication of key people – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – with the shared goal of overcoming Indigenous disadvantage through opportunities in digital broadcasting media.

Radio Larrakia is structured as a not-for-profit, charitable organisation with a reputable board of traditional owners, Indigenous and non-Indigenous professionals, volunteers, Indigenous managers and a team of full-time Indigenous staff. We have a special Indigenous community radio broadcasting license to broadcast across Darwin and the outer region through 8KNB and 94.5FM, a national radio satellite service via Australian Indigenous Radio Channel 29 on the Aurora satellite, and we live stream our radio broadcasting on the internet. Training is provided by the Indigenous College of Business and Media Australia.

We have a sound track record in Indigenous broadcasting and our Indigenous broadcasting training program was developed specifically around the needs and requirements of our Indigenous communities. The program and format content is Indigenous music, information, community news, cultural events, conferences, sports and community service announcements. Our music, documentaries, films, production programming and content is classified into genre and rated G, PG and R to ensure the charter of our organisation, policies and procedural standards are upheld. We are a responsible broadcaster and broadcast in over 40 Indigenous languages to a maximum of 2400 Indigenous communities Australia wide. Education, training and employment are our key focus areas. Our governance, management and operations are underpinned by Indigenous cultural protocols and ethics to maintain the integrity and direction of our organisation.

This year is especially exciting as we are launching Larrakia TV Channel 35 Darwin. We have four digital television channels including Larrakia TV for local Indigenous programming and content: TV Education, TV Health and TV Indigenous Tourism and Business. This is a unique television license that will enable us to live stream television programming and content on the internet.

The catalyst to establishing an Indigenous-owned and controlled digital broadcasting medium was Indigenous disadvantage and the need to improve the cultural, social and economic development of Indigenous people and their communities. The priority was to create employment opportunities for Indigenous people through:

• LarrakiaRadio94.5FM

• LarrakiaTVChannel35

• AustralianIndigenousRadio,AuroraSatellite Channel 29

• IndigenousCollegeofBusinessandMediaAustralia

• InDiGiTeL

On a day-to-day basis, the staff are broadcasting live radio programs, conducting live and pre-recorded interviews, scripting and producing, filming on country, training in digital broadcasting, covering local stories, community events and festivals, music and entertainment, and researching for Larrakia TV, Larrakia Radio and Australian Indigenous Radio. Staff are trained in Aboriginal cultural protocols and ethics, the latest in digital broadcasting technologies, design and equipment, IT, camerawork, editing, filming, productions and engineering.

Our major projects are an Indigenous ear health campaign, Caring for Country – an Indigenous youth program – an Indigenous broadcasting and media training program, creating an Indigenous music collection and transferring archival Indigenous film and documentary footage from all formats into the latest digital television format.

My role is to oversee the operations, management and staff of Larrakia Broadcasting to ensure we are maintaining our vision and direction on a day-to-day basis and within strict regulations and compliance measures as a licensed community broadcaster. We have a culturally and personally safe workplace that values respect for each other and the work we are privileged to do. We have managed to achieve outstanding success with a massive amount of good will. We encourage Indigenous people to consider media as a professional career pathway for the benefits to themselves and the Australian community as a whole.

Leanne Holt and Professor John Lester, Directors of the Wollotuka Institute, pictured with Indigenous Alumni Award recipient Dr Donna Odegaard

AN IMPORTANT SOUNDBy Dr Donna Odegaard

2012 indigEnOuS AluMni AWARd REciPiEnTDR DONNA ODEGAARDChief Executive, Radio Larrakia Darwin

doctor of Philosophy 2011 Master of Philosophy 2002 Faculty of Business and Law

Dr Donna Odegaard is the chief executive of Radio Larrakia 94.5FM Darwin and an active representative of Indigenous communities on issues including native title, Indigenous heritage, education, training and employment.

Since taking the role of chief executive in 2005, Donna has made a number of significant contributions to Indigenous media. She is the primary founder and chairperson of Larrakia TV, Australian Indigenous Radio, the Indigenous College of Business and Media Australia and InDiGiTel. She played a key role in the development of cultural protocols and ethics that underpin Indigenous media and the strategic direction of the newly established Indigenous Media Centre, Aboriginal Broadcasting Australia in Darwin.

She oversaw the restructure and redevelopment of Radio Larrakia as the “Voice of Larrakia” and continues to present a weekly radio program Larrakia Talk. Donna is committed to increasing Indigenous employment and training opportunities in all facets of Indigenous media.

THE SEAHORSE | 18

2012 yOung AluMni AWARd REciPiEnTDR GLENN PLATT Theme Leader, Local Energy Systems CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship

Master of Business Administration 2010 Doctor of Philosophy 2005 Bachelor of Engineering 2000 Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

With a background in both electrical engineering and wireless communications, Dr Glenn Platt is the director of a $15 million per annum CSIRO team, developing and commercialising technologies in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The team is looking at ways to use energy more efficiently, as well as overseeing the development of new technologies aimed at improving energy use across the electricity network.

Glenn has also played an instrumental role in establishing the CSIRO as a key partner in Ausgrid’s Smart Grid, Smart City consortium which is working on the first commercial scale demonstration of smart grid technology in Australia. His team also led the $65million SolarGrid Australia program associated with the Moree Solar Farm which, on construction, was planned to be the largest photovoltaic power station in the world.

Already serving on a range of key energy and climate change councils and task forces, he was recently named 2011 Young Executive of the Year by The Australian Financial Review’s BOSS Magazine.

You might have heard a bit in the news lately about an energy crisis – or how electricity prices are going up.

Did you know that people from all around the world are travelling to Newcastle to see the solutions to these problems?

Or that some Newcastle University engineering graduates invented a really efficient airconditioning system that’s now in buildings such as the Rockefeller Centre, New York?

Did you realise that the biggest solar power station of its type is operating in Newcastle, and we’ll soon be building copies around the world, in collaboration with major companies such as Mitsubishi?

For me, studying at Newcastle was a no-brainer – as someone who grew up here, it’s just what you did. Having graduated from engineering, and with the words of Newcastle Business School’s Professor Scott Holmes, “Don’t let accountants run the world” ringing in my ears, I went on to study business as well.

I wish I could say I chose Newcastle because of the amazing things I’d heard about it. But the thing is, amazing work is happening here; we just aren’t great at talking about it.

I’m fortunate enough to get to meet people from around the world as part of my job, and when I mention to them I’m from Newcastle, well, perhaps the most common response I get is “Oh right – as in the Ale? Newcastle Brown?” Nope – that’d be England. Or

I might get a “I think I passed through there on my way to...”.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised – after all, “Paris Hilton” gets 2.7 million searches per month on Google, whereas “Newcastle Australia” only gets 74,000. Sadly, even “renewable energy” only gets 1.2 million searches – Ms Hilton is more than double!

But the fact is, Newcastle is now home to an amazing amount of research, development and commercial activity around our energy future.

Organisations such as The Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources and the CSIRO, the University, local companies and our councils, really are leading the world here. Everyone from the Prime Minister to scientists and major investors know about our work, but they don’t realise where it’s happening.

When we think about energy, we have some pretty amazing challenges ahead of us. Newcastle has a major part to play, on the world stage, in addressing these. There’s plenty of incredible work happening already. And I’ve not even touched on other disciplines, such as medical research.

Just imagine if Newcastle could be known not just for tonnes of coal or the name of an ale, but for the people that come from here – their ingenuity, business success and, well, energy.

As alumni, I encourage you to be just a little proud of our region and where we studied. Tell a few people about it. Just quietly...

NEWCASTLE SHINING BRIGHTLYBy Dr Glenn Platt

Executive Committee of Alumni member Meredith Young presented Dr Glenn Platt with the Young Alumni Award

Glenn showing Prime Minister Julia Gillard through some of his team’s work

19 | THE SEAHORSE

2012 AluMni AWARd FinAliSTS

PROFESSOR IR DR MOHD SAPUAN SALIT Professor of Composite Materials Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Malaysia

Bachelor of Engineering 1990 Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

Malaysian-born Professor Salit is a leading academic and author or co-author of more than 700 publications in the field of mechanical engineering, in particular composite materials, and concurrent engineering.

He was appointed a Professor of Composite Materials in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering at UPM in 2007 and heads the Structural Composites program at the University’s Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology Laboratory.

Professor Salit has delivered 13 invited and keynote lectures at scientific conferences, and in February 2012 was awarded the best scientific paper and oral presenter prize at the UPM-UniKL Symposium on Polymeric Materials.

He is currently involved in six research projects, and in 2011 was ranked 34th in the university’s top 100 researchers. He has successfully supervised 27 PhD students.

In 2012 Professor Salit received the Rotary Research Foundation Gold Medal Award from the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur for his excellent contribution to research and development in the field of engineering. He has won numerous other awards and is the seven-time recipient of UPM’s Excellence Service Award.

DR BRySON BATES Leader, Pathways to Adaptation Theme CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship Perth, Western Australia


Dr Bryson Bates is an internationally recognised expert and advisor in climate change and its impact on water resources.

Dr Bates began his career as an engineering cadet with the Hunter District Water Board.

Since 2008, he has led the Pathways to Adaptation Theme at the CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation Flagship – a program designed to enable Australia to adapt to the impacts of climate change and variability and to inform national planning, regulation and investment decisions.

In 2007, Dr Bates, along with his peers on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former US Vice-President Al Gore, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to counter man-made climate change, and, in doing so, reduce the risk of global conflict over already scarce natural resources.

After completing his PhD thesis in 1982, Dr Bates spent 16 years researching groundwater and water resources with the CSIRO and a further year with the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction at the Earth Institute of Columbia University, New York. He returned in 2004 to the role of Director of the CSIRO’s Climate Program.

AluMni MEdAl FinAliST AluMni MEdAl FinAliST

EWAN MCEOIN Founder, Studio Propeller Melbourne, Victoria

Bachelor of Applied Science 1994 Faculty of Science and Information Technology

Mr Ewan McEoin is a self-driven champion of change, working in partnerships across a wide range of interest areas.

Ewan is the founder of Studio Propellor, which works with organisations to enhance communication, collaboration and innovation. Projects include mentorship programs, conferences, workshops, websites and publications.

Ewan also publishes the Locavore Edition website which aims to encourage food producers, manufacturers, policy makers, retailers and consumers to consider ways to improve food production systems.

He is the general manager of Melbourne-based Creativity Australia, a not-for-profit inspiring people to “find their voice” through a choir program. Ewan was the cofounder of the Springboard Entrepreneurship Program – a small business mentorship and training program.

In years past, Ewan has been editor of the Australian Design Review, a design lecturer at RMIT, a member of several design advisory boards, a television judge and organiser of some of Australia’s biggest design events.

nEWTOn-JOHn AWARd FinAliST

FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW

THE SEAHORSE | 20

DR HADyN WILSON Visual Artist Hunter Valley, New South Wales

Phd Fine Art 2010 Faculty of Education and Arts

Dr Hadyn Wilson is a highly credentialed and multi-award-winning visual artist. He has held more than 27 solo exhibitions in galleries throughout Australia and overseas, and participated in many more.

Hadyn’s art reflects his love of nature and his commitment to environmental projects and concerns. His recent works are inspired by botanical specimens of extinct plants and his work has extended into writing extracts to accompany the images.

Since completing his Doctorate in Fine Arts in 2010, Hadyn has had two major exhibitions at the Brenda May Gallery and the Francis Keevil Gallery, both in Sydney. He won the Gallipoli Art Prize in 2011 for his painting honouring sacrifice in war and was runner-up in the NSW Parliament Plein Air Art Prize in 2012.

He is regularly invited to share his experiences as an artist as a guest speaker at galleries and events.

DR IAN BURNS Artist New York, United States of America

Bachelor of Fine Art 2000 Faculty of Education and Arts

Artist Dr Ian Burns began his journey to world acclaim with a student exchange experience at Buffalo State College, New York, while he was as an undergraduate student at the University of Newcastle. Grasping the opportunities this afforded, he completed a Masters degree in 2003 at the prestigious Hunter College in Manhattan. It was his exhibition resulting from this program of work which launched his career onto the fiercely competitive world stage of contemporary art.

Ian has had numerous international exhibitions in major galleries, museums and in private collections across the globe including Germany, the UK, New Zealand, the USA, Norway and Italy.

His work has also been featured in 16 solo exhibitions over the last 8 years, across the world.

Among his many awards, Ian has received grants from the Australia Council, the Jerome Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He has held numerous international artist-in-residence positions, including a recent expedition to the Arctic on a 100-year-old schooner.

His work has been reviewed and featured in a range of leading international art magazines including Frieze Magazine, ArtForum, and Flash Art, and world newspapers including The Irish Times, Der Standard, The Australian and The New York Times.

Ian continues to develop his impressive career from his base in New York.

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A Bush Burial, The lost battle for Anvill Hill and the ‘Ark of the Hunter valley’ to Xstrata Coal. Muswellbrook, NSW2 x 1.5 metres. Oil on canvas, 2012

Image courtesy of Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne and Sydney and Mother’s Tankstation, Dubllin

2012 ALUMNI AWARD FINALISTS

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AluMni AWARd FOR inTERnATiOnAl lEAdERSHiP FinAliST

MEL DUNN General Manager UniQuest International Development Brisbane, Queensland

Master of Social Change and Development 2005 Faculty of Education and Arts

Mr Mel Dunn is general manager of international development at UniQuest, where he leads the company’s engagement activities in Africa.

UniQuest works with international aid agencies and other development partners to help developing nations improve their infrastructure, economies and communities. Mel established key relationships with the University of Pretoria and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center in Accra as foundation partners for UniQuest and its work there.

Mel is also a Conjoint Associate Professor within the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Queensland. With a career in international development work spanning a wide range of countries, he achieved approximately $500 million in new international project contracts.

Mel has research interests in gender, and in the role that non-formal and informal education can play to reduce poverty. Mel is also a White Ribbon ambassador, taking a stand for the elimination of violence against women. He has been a part of award-winning teams, including the team that received the 2001 Queensland Premier’s Award for excellence in public sector management.

DR ROBERT EDMONSON CEO, Paradigm 21 Group Hong Kong

doctor of Business Administration 2009 Faculty of Business and Law

Dr Robert Edmonson is an internationally recognised executive coach, corporate trainer, keynote speaker and author. He is the CEO and principal consultant with Paradigm 21 Group – a Hong Kong-based company specialising in executive coaching, talent development training, talent assessment and career and cultural coaching. The company was named “Hong Kong’s most valuable company” in 2011.

In 1984, Robert cofounded and pioneered the first publicly traded computer services franchise. PCR International set industry standards and was featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, with many experts referring to the company as the “Hertz” of computer rentals.

From 2007, Robert has also worked as an external senior consultant and executive coach for DBM, a leading global leadership development firm. This work led to him being ranked Asia’s number one executive coach.

Robert is a familiar keynote speaker across Hong Kong and a part-time academic. He is the author of three leadership books and has published papers in two academic journals and eight business publications.


BRANDON GIEN Managing Director Good Design Australia Sydney, New South Wales

Bachelor of design 1997 Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

Mr Brandon Gien is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia with a background in management and industrial design. He is currently the managing director of Good Design Australia and chair of the Australian International Design Awards and has transformed the awards program over the past decade into Australia’s peak design assessment and promotion body.

In his position, he plays a key role in collaborating with design and creative experts from around the world and has formed affiliations with universities and design organisations both in Australia and abroad.

In 2011, Brandon was elected to the position of president-elect of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), the first Australian to hold this position. It has members in more than 50 countries and represents the interests of about 200,000 designers worldwide.

Through his work on the ICSID executive board, Brandon has been instrumental in creating the World Design Impact Prize, a new prize to honour industrial design-driven projects that make a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and environmental quality of life.



THE SEAHORSE | 22

DOUG DEAN AM CEO, Veolia Environment (Australia) Sydney, New South Wales

Bachelor of commerce 1976 Faculty of Business and Law

Mr Doug Dean’s early career was in commerce and tax auditing at companies such as BHP, Coopers and Lybrand (now PWC) and then David Jones. By 1981, he was the NSW manager of the Comet Express Division with TNT Australia and by 1989 was general manager of Sims Metal, Waste and Environmental Divisions.

Since 1991, Doug has been at the helm of Veolia Environmental Services – one of Australia’s leading companies in the areas of waste management, recycling and industrial service needs. Responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the company, Doug has expanded the business from a base of $16 million in turnover to $1 billion. In 2008, he was appointed chair of Veolia in Australia and NZ. Doug is a director of Veolia Environmental Services in Australia and North America, and chairman in South Africa.

Doug holds a wide range of board appointments in Australia and abroad, and was made a member of the Order of Australia this year for his service to the sector and the community.

AluMni AWARd FOR nATiOnAl lEAdERSHiP FinAliST

PROFESSOR ALI GHUFRON MUKTI Vice Minister of Health Indonesia

Doctor of Philosophy (Community Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology) 2000 Faculty of Health

Professor Ali Ghufron Mukti is a nationally recognised Professor of Medicine and Public Health, noted for his expertise in the areas of health insurance, health financing, family medicine and epidemiology. Professor Mukti was the youngest academic ever to be appointed Dean of Medicine at the University of Gadjah Mada. An active researcher with more than 40 publications, he has presented his work at universities in Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Taiwan.

Professor Mukti has acted as chairman of many professional organisations in the health sector in Indonesia and is one of the organisers of the South East Asian Public Health Institutes Network. He is also the current chairman of the South East Asia One Health Network.

Thanks to his significant contribution to the field of health, he was recently appointed Vice-Minister of Health for the Republic of Indonesia by President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono. In this role, he is responsible to the minister for the implementation and development of new policies and increasing accessibility to comprehensive health insurance, and continues to contribute much to national leadership in Indonesia.


BROOKE TWyFORD Vice President Operations News & Sports Groups. Time Inc. New York, United States of America

Bachelor of Arts 1986 Faculty of Education and Arts

A 26-year veteran of the publishing industry, Ms Brooke Twyford is currently the vice president of operations for News and Sports Groups at Time Inc. New York. After graduating with first class honours in history, she began her career as a photographic editor at the Rupert Murdoch-owned Bay Books in 1986.

Since then, Brooke has spent the past 18 years at Time Inc., where she currently oversees both the print and tablet operations for magazines such as TIME, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. In this role, Brooke manages a budget of $US200 million and directs editorial process, make-up, ad production, imaging and plant manufacturing across 21 different titles.

Last year, Brooke was the production lead on Time Inc.’s IT Initiative to have all 21 titles on tablet by the end of 2011, a project she successfully completed. She is a member of the operations council of the Next Issue Media.



23 | THE SEAHORSE

GLEN UNICOMB Senior Consultant, Korda Mentha Sydney, New South Wales


Mr Glen Unicomb has spent the best part of his career with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission where he has become a noted expert in regulatory compliance and effective governance and risk management frameworks.

Glen has led some of Australia’s most complex and high-profile corporate investigations and related litigation. He has investigated the $5.6 billion collapse of the HIH Group, the James Hardie Medical Research and Compensation Fund – a landmark case that arose from a Special Commission of Inquiry and redefined the responsibilities of both executive and non-executive directors of public companies in Australia – and the largest superannuation fraud in Australia’s history, the Trio Capital investigation.

He has made his knowledge and expertise available to provide training across Australia and he has also made presentations to Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission for the Asia Pacific Regulator Council.

Currently, Glen is a senior consultant with KordaMentha, providing clients with solutions to complex regulatory compliance issues.


DR IAN CAMERON CEO, NSW Rural Doctors Network Newcastle, New South Wales


Graduating in 1985, Dr Ian Cameron spent the next three years working as a medical officer at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney before returning to his hometown of Bourke as a general practitioner for eight years. It was there he developed a passion for rural medicine.

For the past 15 years, Ian has been CEO of the NSW Rural Doctors Network. In this position he works to attract, recruit and retain health professionals in rural and remote areas and has been active in promoting rural general practice placements for medical students across the state. The scope of the network has broadened under his leadership to include specialist outreach programs and the recruitment of nursing and allied health professionals to rural NSW.

Ian was appointed by the NSW Minister for Health to the Medical Training and Education Council and the Health Participation Council. He serves on numerous committees and task forces on rural health issues at both the commonwealth and state level and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and a Fellow of the Australia College of Rural and Remote Medicine.

AluMni AWARd FOR REgiOnAl lEAdERSHiP FinAliST

PAMELA CONNELL Director, Sonrise School Rwanda

Bachelor of Teaching/ Bachelor of Arts 2010 Master of Social change and development 2012 Faculty of Education and Arts

Following a teaching practicum at Sonrise Boarding School in Rwanda in 2010, Ms Pam Connell returned after graduation and was appointed Head of School with a primary focus of changing the inequality of education in that region. The school is unique as its students are primarily made up of victims orphaned from Rwanda’s genocide.

In the role, Pam implemented new school policies, re-established school morale, restored discipline and initiated a program of careers workshops for students and conducted teacher professional development.

During 2011, she was engaged by the Musanze District Office to develop a project which would see the establishment of an IT School in the region.

This year, Pam became a founding member of three newly formed NGOs in Rwanda: Youth Literary Organisation, SekaRawanda and the Pan-Africa Education Network. She has also spent time fundraising for The Fountain Academy of Leadership and Entrepreneurship to be located in the poorest province of Rawanda with a goal to attract the increasing number of street kids, with a planned opening next year.



THE SEAHORSE | 24

PETER ELLIOTT Retired Assistant Principal Newcastle, New South Wales

Bachelor of Educational Studies 1982 Bachelor of Arts 1977 Faculty of Education and Arts

Over the course of his 41-year career, primary teacher Mr Peter Elliott has made an outstanding contribution to the early education of hundreds of Newcastle children.

In the late 1970s, after completing a Bachelor of Arts with majors in English and History, Peter spent three years at the Newcastle College of Advanced Education before returning to his first love of face-to-face teaching.

For 26 years he dedicated himself to the early education of children at Cardiff Primary School in the role of assistant principal and with numerous terms as acting principal.

Over the years Peter has engaged his students in his various interests including history, current affairs and American, English and Australian literature.

Peter continued his own learning throughout his career, completing post-graduate studies and a number of in-service courses, including the primary German Teachers Language Program in 1998.

AluMni AWARd FOR EXcEPTiOnAl cOMMuniTy SERVicE FinAliST

DR TONy HAyEK CEO, Blue Wealth Property Sydney, New South Wales

doctor of Philosophy 2000 Bachelor of Arts (Hons) 1996 Faculty of Science and Information Technology

Dr Tony Hayek is the CEO and founder of Blue Wealth Property and one of Australia’s leading property experts, leading a cutting-edge research and investment team that identifies growth markets and property investment opportunities for its business partners and clients throughout Australia. The company has assisted more than 15,000 Australians on their investment journey, in the process selling almost $1 billion in assets.

Tony is one of Australia’s most sought after public speakers when it comes to property investment with the reputation of bringing clarity to an often complex subject. He makes regular appearances on Sky Business News, as well as having articles published in a myriad of Australian finance, business and property publications.

An active supporter of Camp Quality, over the last two years Tony has raised $20,000 through fundraising at his seminars. He works to forge links between traditional Lebanese and Australians through membership of the board of the Australian Lebanese Federation and association with the Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce.

JUSTIN DOyLE Director, Doyle Partners Newcastle, New South Wales


After spending time with a number of well-known accounting firms, both in Australia and abroad, Mr Justin Doyle established Doyle Partners in 2008 as a boutique advisory firm focused on a niche clientele of high end, privately held business. Justin saw that Newcastle and the Hunter required a boutique alternative to large-scale corporate advisory firms and he now has a team of 16 young and energetic individuals who understand the strategy of the business and are motivated by the firm’s three core values: pride, passion and trust.

Justin acted as the Hunter regional chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for three years and, during 2011, was appointed to the advisory board of the Proactive Accountants Network, the largest network of independent accounting firms in Australia. This is a leading role in the profession which encourages entrepreneurship amongst professional accounting firms and widening the scope of advice provided to clients.

Doyle Partners also received the award for best client results within the Proactive Accountants Network – a significant achievement as a boutique firm given the inclusion of many second-tier firms.




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RON GIBBINS Volunteer University Baptist Chaplain Retired Senior Lecturer in Accounting, University of Newcastle Newcastle, New South Wales

Faculty of Business and Law

For much of his life, Mr Ron Gibbons has dedicated his time and skills to benefit others in the community.

Starting out as a school teacher, Ron went on to study accounting and was a senior lecturer in accounting at the University of Newcastle for 25 years. During this time he volunteered his professional services to more than 40 student bodies, including acting as the official auditor for the University Sports Union.

Ron has been a key figure in Newcastle’s Baptist Church community since joining as a pastor in 1954. The University’s Baptist chaplain since 1985, Ron is widely recognised for his unifying influence in a successful and active multifaith University chaplaincy. He was integral to the establishment of the Maryland Baptist Church facility, which provides a range of community activities and services.

Ron also served with distinction in the 2/7 Artillery Regiment during World War Two, particularly in Tarakan, Borneo.

DR JANE TAyLOR OAM Head of Discipline, Oral Health Associate Professor in Oral Health University of Newcastle Sydney, New South Wales

Visiting Dental Officer (Forensic) Sydney West Local Health District

doctor of Philosophy 2009 graduate certificate in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching 2007 Faculty of Health

Dr Jane Taylor is a celebrated dental expert who has given significant service to communities here and abroad, inspiring her students to do likewise.

As a leading forensic dentist, Jane played a critical role in identifying victims of the Bali bombing (2002), the Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand (2004) and the Victorian bushfires (2009).

In recognition of her services in this field, Jane was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia (2003), an Overseas Humanitarian Service Award (2007) and an Australian Police Operations Medal (2009).

Jane also plays a key role in a number of community dental initiatives, including the oral health clinic at the University’s Ourimbah Campus and the free mobile oral health van staffed by students from the Central Coast campus. In July 2011, Jane, her colleague and three students ran dental clinics in the Project Lily Orphanage in Soe, West Timor.



LOREN COLLyER Solicitor Crown Solicitors Office Sydney, New South Wales

Director, Ngalaya NSW Aboriginal Lawyers Association

Bachelor of laws/diploma of legal Practice 2006 Bachelor of Arts 2004 Faculty of Business and Law

Ms Loren Collyer was admitted as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of NSW in February 2007, and began legal practice with the Binaal Billa Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service.

In her 12 months with the service, Loren represented more than 50 Indigenous victims of family violence across western and central NSW and initiated and presented several legal education programs to the Indigenous community.

In 2011, Loren was appointed as a director of the Ngalaya NSW Aboriginal Lawyers Association and was on the organising committee for the 2011 National Indigenous Legal Conference. Loren was invited to participate in the National Forum on Constitutional Change to recognise Indigenous Australians in Canberra.

Since 2009, Loren has been employed by the Crown Solicitor’s Office of NSW and was involved in one the largest litigations against the NSW government after the Canberra bushfires. Loren currently practices in the coronial inquiries team.

indigEnOuS AluMni AWARd FinAliST

FROM liTTlE THingS Big THingS gROW

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JO HEIGHWAy Founder and CEO, Engage Super Audits Central Coast, New South Wales


Mrs Joanne Heighway began her career with Deloitte, where she completed a cadetship while studying – she graduated as a chartered accountant in the top 5 per cent across Australia and was the highest-performing graduate from further study with the University of Adelaide. This foreshadowed the capacity and drive of a young lady who is now referred to as the leader of a groundbreaking and innovative sector of her profession – an “accountant to the accountants”.

Without the benefits in career advancement that come from being part of a big firm, and at only 27 years of age, Joanne juggled new motherhood with a “start-up” business, auditing self-managed super funds from the front room of her home on the Central Coast. Today, her firm Engage Super Audits employs many Australians and is one of the largest self-managed super fund auditors in Australia – and she has a string of local and national awards to show for it – the most recent, being named as the 2011 NSW Young Businesswoman of the Year, from which she went on to win the 2011 Australian Young Businesswoman of the Year.

And to top it off, she is also dedicating much time to the development of young professionals in the sector – founding and chairing both the Young Chartered Accountants Group and SMSF Professionals’ Association in her region.

yOung AluMni AWARd FinAliST

JOEL WENITONG Musician – The Last Kinection Newcastle, New South Wales

current student – Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Social Science 1999 Faculty of Education and Arts

Mr Joel Wenitong is a proud descendent of the Kabi Kabi people of South East Queensland.

He is a respected leader and mentor in Aboriginal communities across Australia where he conducts music therapy workshops, teaching participants to express and heal through music.

In 2002, Joel came to the nation’s attention in indigenous hip-hop group, Local Knowledge. He is now a member of the multi-award winning three-piece The Last Kinection, who have a reputation for being captivating entertainers, tackling issues facing Australia with great humour.

A recent campaign with the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council targeting hepatitis, called “Where’s the Shame, Love your Liver – Hep Hop Tour” won a national health promotion award for best practice and innovation.

Joel is a member of the Awabakal Land Council and the Toughin’ It Out Suicide Prevention Association. He is currently studying a Bachelor of Medicine.

STEVEN LINDSAy Sydney Office Manager Lindsay & Dynan Sydney, New South Wales


In his seven years working for prestigious engineering firm Arup, Mr Steven Lindsay led some of the most technically challenging structural projects ever seen in Sydney. Some of these included the refurbishment of the King Street building which is now home to the Apple Store, and the award-winning $280 million Darling Quarter project. Steven currently holds the position of Sydney office manager with Lindsay & Dynan, which has him in charge of 17 employees.

With an interest in using his engineering skills to help those less fortunate, Steven is currently undertaking the scoping of the design for a women’s transition house in Batambang, Cambodia. This initiative is being done in conjunction with the Cambodian Children’s Trust, a not-for-profit organisation run by former Young Australian of the Year nominee, Tara Winkler.

Steven’s leadership and communication skills allow him to apply high-quality engineering solutions to suit his clients’ needs. This was acknowledged by his peers when he was named 2011 NSW Young Engineer of the Year by Engineers Australia.

indigEnOuS AluMni AWARd FinAliST



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THEO SOURIS Commercial Manager EC Harris International Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Bachelor of construction Management (Hons) 2004 Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

A man on the move, Mr Theo Souris has worked on large-scale construction projects in Australia and abroad. With a natural capacity for leadership, Theo has progressed quickly to the upper echelon of the building and construction industry. He holds a position with EC Harris as commercial manager for the construction of one of the world’s most impressive postmodern buildings – Abu Dhabi’s Landmark Tower.

The 72-storey, 330-metre-high tower has a contract value of $400 million and is scheduled for completion in December. The Tower will consist of 140 residential apartments, 50,000m2 of office space, retail areas, restaurants, health club and sky garden, swimming pool and basement car spaces. In this role, Theo is responsible for the implementation of strategic initiatives and operational issues. Some of his duties include facilitating contractor and consultant payments, implementing change management procedures and addressing various contractual issues.

Theo is set to bring the completion of the construction of the Landmark Tower in on schedule.

ERIN THURSBy Teacher, Epping West Public School Sydney, New South Wales

graduate diploma in Education 2006 Faculty of Education and Arts

After completing a Graduate Diploma in Education in 2006, Ms Erin Thursby’s strong academic record ensured she was a targeted graduate with the NSW Department of Education, and she was soon teaching a diverse student body at Epping West Public School. She is passionate about educating children and supporting them to achieve to the best of their capabilities. But her story does not end there.

In 2010, Erin volunteered at the Lampang Hospital in northern Thailand, where she became aware of the limited opportunities that existed for young patients recuperating from illness. From this visit, the idea of creating an educational and healing space for these young patients was born. After approaching the hospital in June 2011 with her proposal, she received approval to create the Lampang Hospital Fairy Garden.

Erin acted as project manager throughout its development, showing outstanding leadership skills in bringing both Australian and Thai stakeholders together to achieve this shared vision of making the garden space a reality. In February of this year, the Fairy Garden was completed and is now a sanctuary for the hospital’s young patients. The garden not only acts as a tool for recovery, it also plays a part in educating children that may otherwise go without this important life skill.



Newcastle graduates entertained with a Phil Tweed arrangement of “Climb Every Mountain”. L to R: Jess O’Dea, Holly Clayton, Clare Rooney, Joel Proctor (current student) and Stuart Brown

Waratah Girls Junior Choir performing with their conductor Ms Jane Mitchell

Phil Tweed (Bachelor of Music 1995) performing his acclaimed work ‘Cascade’

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ENGAGE NEWCASTLE Our Community, Your Universityan online space connecting our communities to the Universitywww.newcastle.edu.au/engage

Image by Conor Ashleigh (Bachelor of Development Studies 2010)

www.newcastle.edu.au/engage

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Hundreds of people enjoyed the University’s Public Lecture Series this year. The Series contributes to the social, economic, politicial, cultural and environmental enrichment of the region. In 2013, a Distruptive Innovations Series will be introduced.

ALUMNI LECTURE - 14 MarchSupersize Me: Early Origins of a Life of Obesity was presented by University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen

HUMAN RIGHTS & SOCIAL JUSTICE – 31 AugustReflecting on issues of social justice, Anne Summers AO presented Her Rights at Work? The Political Persecution of Australia’s First Female Prime Minister

JOHN TURNER LECTURE - 20 SeptemberNewcastle City Hall played host to Dr Michael Ondaatje and his lecture Clinging to Guns and God: Political Conservatism in the Age of Obama

SOCIETY & HEALTH LECTURE - 14 AugustAssociate Professor Cheryl Kernot presented Challenging the Orthodoxy! Social Entrepreneurs and Business with a Social Purpose

SIR NINIAN STEPHEN LECTURE - 27 AprilThe Rule of Law: Its State in Australia was presented by Conjoint Professor the Honourable Kevin E Lindgren AM QC

MORPETH LECTURE – 29 MayThis year’s Morpeth Lecture was held at Newcastle’s Christ Church Cathedral. Dr Tim Stanley presented on the topic Theology between Religion and Politics

We hope to see you at a lecture in 2013 – details will be available at newcastle.edu.au/business-community/community/public-lectures

2012 PuBlic lEcTuRE SERiES

newcastle.edu.au/business-community/community/public-lectures

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A d

ay in

the

life

of

…..

Managing Director Eventown Group Beijing, China

Master of Marketing 2002

Faculty of Business and Law

7am - Wake up and drive from home (villa in suburbs) to city downtown

8.30am - Breakfast

9am - Arrive at the CBD office and check emails

10am - Meeting with venture capitalist

11am - Discussion with the game department

12pm - Lunch with the head of the advertising department

1pm - Have a rest and listen to some music online

2pm - Meeting with eventown.com.cn department head

3pm - Have a gathering with either a rep of an event venue or a client

4pm - Discussion with our DMC department base on a client’s case

5pm - Take some phone calls and check emails from my blackberry

6pm - Drive home

7.30pm - Dinner with my family

8pm - Do some carpentry work, making an instrument or watering the plants

9pm - Wind down by watching television, a movie or listening to the radio

10pm - Sleep

Northern Territory Department of Education, Minyerri School Katherine, Northern Territory

Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Arts 2010

Faculty of Education and Arts

6am - Out of bed, coffee, shower and check out how hot it will be today – 42 degrees, that’s mild, at home it’s only 23 degrees, bbrrr!

7.15am - Chat with our class’s Indigenous assistant teacher about plan for day, do prep, etc, check if students have all had breakfast through the healthy breakfast program

8.15am - Call stragglers to school on PA, Healthy Ears time followed by practising our English

10.30am - Daga (recess) time, update attendance board…98 per cent, YAHOO!

11am - Numeracy time

12.30pm - Send students home for lunch

1.30pm - Call students back to school on PA, laptop time

3pm - Student home time, coffee break

3.15pm - Quick webinar followed by collegial discussions on impact of our learning

5pm - Chat to parents at the billabong/shop or under a tree, coach Minyerri School Girls basketball team

6pm - Dinner

7pm - Watch a little news on TV, just in case something happened to the rest of the world

8pm - Reflection, extra planning, leadership course research and assessments

10pm - Update student data

11pm - Bed

LIANG (LEO) TANG JESS ROBINSON

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Director, GLK Design Newcastle, New South Wales

Bachelor of Architecture 2006, Bachelor of Design (Architecture) 2002

Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

11pm – 6am - Sleep: dream through the problems, solutions, details, schedules, possibilities? Perhaps finish something that yesterday’s hours weren’t able to resolve

7am - Wake Up: hurry through breakfast. Steal some sunlight for my toes, as the kettle whistle and begins to wander from the stovetop

9am - To-Do List: Finish some drawings, build a model, pay some bills, meet a client, talk to a builder on site, tutor at UoN

1pm - Lunch: Culinary delights from the garden – or the fridge – depending on which has the finest offerings. When lunch concludes, the ‘To-do list’ tells me what’s next

3pm - Coffee Break: refocus, manage some neglected emails, change “Hats”, work on something else, keep the cogs turning

7pm - Dinner: Signals the conclusion of “desk time” for the day. My partner arrives home. We cook dinner together and recap the day.

9pm - Reading: From the inspirational to the essential – the glossy to the dreary – all things architectural

Resident Nurse, Head of Dept The Salvation Army School for the Blind & Visually Impaired Kingston, Jamaica

Bachelor of Nursing 2008

Faculty of Health

6.15am - Wake up and get ready for work

7am - Arrive at the Health Lodge and prepare the children’s morning medications and sign medication charts

7.30am - Administer prescribed medications and eye drops in the dining hall during breakfast

8am - Back at the Health Lodge, where I attend to unwell students or change dressings

8.30am – 2.30pm - School begins. Clean treatment room, top up medical supplies, update student charts, write up treatment book, do emails and any correspondence needed

Attend to boarding and day students who require nursing care.

2.30pm - School finishes. Do boarding student dressings, follow up injuries and review, monitor students on blood pressures charts, be available for all the students requiring nursing care. Spend time with the children, being a mum to them all.

6pm - Night time medications and eye drops

6.30pm - Clean up treatment area, prepare for tomorrow, write up notes and charts

7pm Finish at Health lodge, go home (I live on campus), have tea and spend time with my husband, relax, Facebook or Skype family and friends then read my kindle before going to bed at 10.30pm

7pm - 7am On call for emergencies or students requiring medical attention during the night

Environmentalist & Plastic Pollution Spokesperson Central Coast, New South Wales

Vice President of Take 3

Director of ReChusable

Bachelor Of Science 2006

Faculty of Science and Information Technology

6.30am - Wake up and head out for a surf

8.30am - Breakfast and coffee and quick check of email and social media

9am - Arrive at a high school for a Take 3 presentation and workshop about marine debris with the aim of empowering students to start waste reduction initiatives

1pm - Finish with the school feeling inspired. Lunch and a session on the computer and phone at a nice cafe. A meeting with a new client about stocking ReChusable products is likely.

4pm - Travel to a location and prepare for an evening presentation to a function or community event

6.30pm - Deliver a presentation or engage in a discussion about the problems surrounding waste and the need for reform to conserve the ocean and resources

10pm - Wind down with a glass of red wine and reluctantly jump back online to complete chores left out during the day

www.take3.org.au www.rechusable.com

GREG KNIGHT MAJOR CHERYL CARPENTER TIM SILVERWOOD

www.take3.org.au

www.rechusable.com

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GRADUATION GLIMPSES

HOnORARy dEgREE REciPiEnTOcTOBER 2012CONJOINT PROFESSOR TREVOR WARING AM

FACULTy OF SCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGy

Conjoint Professor Trevor Waring AM has contributed greatly to the University of Newcastle as a student, a psychology academic, and as fifth Chancellor of the University.

He was elected to University Council in 1984, became Conjoint Professor of Psychology in 1995, was named Deputy Chancellor in 1997, and from May 2004 to May 2012 served as Chancellor – the first graduate of the University and the first Newcastle resident to do so.

Trevor was appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 2004 for his work in mental health and psychology and in 2011 he received the Australian Psychology Society President’s Award for distinguished contribution to psychology.

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The gift of education comes in all shapes and sizes and one of the University’s most passionate groups of supporters has always been our alumni.

In the decade since the University of Newcastle Foundation was established in the late 1990s, more than $30 million dollars was given through donations and bequests to support scholarships, prizes, academic positions and research.

In 2010, more than $4 million was given – twice the amount of the year before, while in 2011, the University benefitted in more than $5 million in gifts.

Our alumni have always recognised the importance of investing in education and its role as the ultimate vehicle for the progress of a region, if not the world. Additionally, our alumni are also very aware of the importance that giving plays in helping their alma mater maintain its world standing – currently placed in the top 4% of universities in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities – and, in turn, the currency of their degrees.

In fact, alumni make up almost 70 per cent of those who donate to our Annual Appeal for scholarships to support disadvantaged students. It is speaks of the warmth alumni feel towards this University that people give so generously to uphold and nurture their connections in such a meaningful way.

In 2012 the Foundation’s Annual Appeal supported our Shaping Futures Scholarships – scholarships for academically gifted students facing disadvantage. This year almost $50,000 has been raised to help students who may otherwise have been unable to attend university.

One alum who gave to this year’s Annual Appeal is Dr Keryl Kavanagh, from the University’s English Language and Foundation Studies Centre.

“I have seen first-hand the challenges so many of our students face,” she said.

“Giving to a student scholarship is just a small, tangible way to help. I see it over and over again – the student who receives a scholarship today overcomes their hurdles and makes an impact on those around them tomorrow.

“My small gifts can establish a chain of support that extends beyond my lifetime.”

Then there is the group of Singaporean alumni who, in keeping with the Chinese proverb, have not forgotten the “stream from which they drank” and have established their own scholarship for academically gifted students facing hardship.

Supporting scholarships is a fruitful way to enrich the lives of students and can be done by giving to existing programs or by establishing new ones in areas donors are passionate about.

A gift to the Foundation comes from the heart, and every donor can shape their gift to ensure it is personally meaningful – whether it is through a scholarship, a research donation, the establishment of a Professorial position, the giving of something personal or a lasting legacy in a will.

AluMni giVing SHAPES liVES The culture of giving is alive and well at the University of Newcastle Foundation, where the generosity of alumni is making a huge difference to the lives of many students.

Alumni donor Dr Keryl Kavanagh, pictured here with Shaping Future Scholarship recipients, believes that small gifts can establish a chain of support that extends beyond our lifetime

FAREWEll TO lOuiSE O’cOnnEllAfter three years as University of Newcastle Foundation CEO, Louise O’Connell recently moved on from her role.

“Thank you to everyone I have had the honour of dealing with over the past three years for thinking globally and acting locally,” Louise said.

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AluMni in PRinT

THE HUNTER By alumnus Scott Bevan Bachelor of Arts 1989

After navigating Russia, ABC journalist Scott Bevan decided to come home – via the river which ran through his childhood, the Hunter.

In his curiously named kayak Pulbah Raider, he sets out to paddle the river’s length, from near the headwaters high in the Barrington Tops, hundreds of kilometres to the Pacific Ocean at Newcastle. The river carries him through time, connecting him to the people who live and work on its banks, some doing it tough, others enjoying the good life.

As he learns, the Hunter is not just a region, it’s a place that has helped to shape the nation. From it comes the food and wine many of us consume to the electricity in our homes. The river itself has inspired artists, poets and storytellers. It has helped realise dreams and make fortunes, from mining to farming. And during floods, it has washed away livelihoods – and lives. Now, as the competition for its resources intensifies, the river’s health – and the region’s lifeblood – are at risk.

Told with humour and panache, The Hunter takes readers on an engaging ride into the soul of Australia itself.

Available online at harpercollins.com.au

HOUSE OF SIGHS By alumnus Aaron dries Bachelor of Communication 2005

It’s the summer of 1995, and the passengers of the Sunday bus into town have realised that something is very wrong with their driver. They don’t know that she began her day planning to kill herself. But they know that she’s threatening to kill them. They began the ride as her passengers, but now they’re her captives. She’s already shown she won’t hesitate to use that gun in her hand, and no one wants to be the next to die. They have no idea where she’s taking them, who will be left alive when they get there, or what’s in store for the survivors. With a madwoman at the wheel, the bus has gone far off its route. And for most of the passengers, the next stop will be their last.

Available online at store.samhainpublishing.com

CREATIVITy AND CULTURAL PRODUCTION: ISSUES FOR MEDIA PRACTICE By alumnus dr Phillip Mcintyre Head of Discipline, Communication and Media, School of Design Communication and IT

Applying research from psychology, sociology, communication and cultural studies to issues in media practice, this groundbreaking book provides useful insights to creative media practitioners. It also gives policy professionals concerned with creativity and innovation a research-based understanding of cultural production. It goes beyond common sense thinking about creativity, seeing it instead as the emergent property of a system in operation.

Available online at amazon.com

WINTER’S LIGHT By alumnus Michael Hearle Bachelor of Arts 2000

Blake is gone.

He sacrificed himself to save Winter, leaving her alone, unprotected – hunted.

An ancient enemy is rising, but Winter is no longer the innocent girl who was fated to die at Pilgrim’s Lament. She will not wait to be saved. She will do what she must to survive, even accept an unsavoury alliance with those who destroyed her love.

In the gathering darkness, the enemy of an enemy is not always a friend, and Winter must find the strength to stand alone and fight for the one she loves. For she is the key to unlocking the secrets beyond the veil of shadows.

And she is Blake’s only hope.

Winter’s Light is a sequel to Michael’s first novel, Winter’s Shadow.

Available online at panmacmillan.com.au

harpercollins.com.au

store.samhainpublishing.com

panmacmillan.com.au

www.amazon.com

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nETWORK nEWS

cAnBERRA Newcastle alums living in Canberra gathered to cheer on the Newcastle Knights as they defeated the Canberra Raiders 36-6 on Sunday 29 July

nEWcASTlE lAW ScHOOl TuRnS 20On Friday 7 September the Newcastle Law School celebrated 20 years with an anniversary dinner at the Merewether Surfhouse

EdWARdS HAll RESidEnTS TuRn 50 Hunter based UoN graduates who were Edwards Hall residents during the 1980s got together at Newcastle’s Crowne Plaza on Friday 26 October, to celebrate the fact that they all turned 50 this year

BRiSBAnEBrisbane alums gathered for the annual alumni reception at The Strand at Rugby Quay where they met Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen

Edwards Hall residents celebrating Malaysian student Manjinder Singh’s 21st Birthday, August 1982

A number of distinguished guests were in attendance on the evening. Picture above from left to right: Associate Professor John Anderson, the Hon. Elizabeth Evatt AO ALRC, Professor Caroline McMillen, Professor Anne Rees, Professor Neil Rees, Mrs Wendy Lindgren, the Hon. Kevin Lindgren AM QC, Steven Gageler SC recently appointed judge of the high court, Justice Michael McHugh QC AC and Melissa Anderson

Left to right: Graeme Innes AM, Maureen Shelley, Professor Garth Nettheim, Graham Robinson, Margaret Cunneen SC, and the Hon. Elizabeth Evatt AO ALRC and third Chancellor of the University

Re-enacting Manjinder Singh’s 21st Birthday in October 2012Back (L-R): Chris Abbott, Brent Guest, Wayne Anderson, Anthony Tate, Frank Habraken, Graeme McKenzie;Front (L-R) Tony Kalogerou, Liz Gallager, David Scott, Nigel White, Paul Brooker, Manjinder Singh, Brad Foot, Jenni Brown, Christine Wade

37 | THE SEAHORSE

SingAPOREThe Hon. Khaw Boon Wan, Minister of National Development Singapore, UoN graduate and Colombo Plan Scholar (centre) attended the Singapore Alumni Chapter gold class movie night on 13 July. The Singapore Alumni Chapter President Kaushik Bhanushali (second right) said, “Such an outstanding event would not be possible without the efforts of my fellow committee members and the camaraderie of the Chapter”.

AuSTRAliA cHinA AluMni AWARdSUniversity of Newcastle MBA graduate and leading corporate and commercial lawyer, Mr John Zhao, was recognised at the 2012 Australia China Alumni Awards held in Shanghai in September, where he won the Corporate Achievement Award. The awards recognise outstanding talent, achievements and contributions made to China by graduates of any Australian university who live and work there. Mr Zhao has enjoyed a successful legal career, providing legal guidance for some of the largest companies in the world and is currently a legal director at Yum Brand Inc.

AuSTRAliA indOnESiA AluMni AWARdSUniversity of Newcastle alumni shone at the 2012 Australian Indonesian Alumni Awards held in Jakarta. The awards recognise outstanding talent, achievements and contributions made to Indonesia by graduates of any Australian university who live and work there. Those honoured were (left to right): Profoessor Ali Gufron Mukti (PhD Public Health 2000) Vice Minister of Health Indonesia (pictured far left); Ficky Maura (Bachelor of Engineering 1996) CEO and managing director of Sunrise Steel; and, Krishda Tan (Bachelor of Engineering 2010) graduate chemical engineer Rio Tinto Pacific Aluminium - Gove Alumina Refinery.

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FROM gRAduATE TO PROFESSiOnAl Another successful Alumni Advantage program for students and graduates of the University took place in 2012. Presented by the Executive Committee of Alumni in partnership with schools, the program consisted of five “working breakfasts”, where graduates at different stages of their careers shared stories, experiences and industry knowledge with students of their discipline.

How to turn a Biomedical Science or Pharmacy Degree into a Rewarding Career was presented to students on Tuesday 28 August. Thanks to graduate speakers (left to right) Richard Buckley (MPharm 2007); Ross Cairns (MPharm 2005, BMedRadSc 2000); Aimee Kraus (MPharm 2005); and Dr Gough Au (PhD, BBiomedSci Hons 2000).

A Profession in the Spotlight - The Highs and Lows of a Communications Career was the topic of discussion at the Communication Alumni Advantage Breakfast on Wednesday 8 August. Communication graduate speakers (left to right) Anthony Scully (2003) producer ABC; Candice Ward (2004) freelance; Jamie Lewis (1994) creative director Out of the Square Media; and Matthew Gain (2001) Edelman PR, shared their advice with communication students.

On Tuesday 31 July, Psychology graduates (left to right) Steve Sanders (BSc 1976); Alyce McKeough (BPsych 2009); and Ben Hainsworth (BSc Psych 2002) discussed Thinking it Through - What to Expect after Graduation.

On Monday 20 August, alum Dr Julia Brotherton (BMed 1996) treated 40 medicine students to a discussion about her research into the National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program.

FACULTY OF HEALTH

FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AND PHARMACy

SCHOOL OF DESIGN, COMMUNICATION AND IT

SCHOOL OF PSyCHOLOGy

On Thursday 29 March 2012, final year engineering students were treated to advice from Bachelor of Engineering graduates. “Build strong networks”, “always be a team player” and “be passionate about your work” were some of the tips passed on to the students as they look to start their careers.

Returning alumni speakers included (left to right) Mr Alex Errock (2012) - process engineer, Newcastle Iron Recovery Plant; Ms Sharon O’Rourke (1993) - senior process engineer, Industrial Minerals, HATCH; Ms Kim van Netten (2011) - PhD candidate, University of Newcastle; Ms Belinda Grealy (1998) - Northern operations manager, Pacific National; and, Mr David Cork (1991) - technical director, The Corkys Group.

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH

39 | THE SEAHORSE

MOVING?Remember to keep us updated with your new details so we can notify you of events in your new location

STAY CONNECTED!newcastle.edu.au/gradlink

Returning in 2013

ALUMNI ADVANTAGE PROGRAM…for UoN students, by UoN graduates

Want to offer your expertise to current students at a 2013 Alumni Advantage Breakfast?

Send an email to [email protected]

AluMni EVEnT diARyWHAT’S cOMing uP in 2013 We want to see you at an event in 2013! Visit www.newcastle.edu.au/event/ for further event details

FEBRuARy Public Lecture Series Alumni lecture newcastle.edu.au/business-community/public-lectures

Alumni Chapter Event Port Macquarie

Port Macquarie Graduation Ceremonies newcastle.edu.au/service/graduation

MARcHAlumni Chapter Event Hunter

Public Lecture Series Barton lecture newcastle.edu.au/business-community/public-lectures

APRilCallaghan Graduation Ceremonies

newcastle.edu.au//service/graduation/

MAy2013 Alumni Awards nominations open

Alumni Chapter Event Brisbane

Public Lecture Series Morpeth lecture newcastle.edu.au/business-community/public-lectures

Alumni Chapter Event Hunter

JunEAlumni Chapter Event and Q+A Melbourne

Ourimbah Graduation Ceremonies newcastle.edu.au/service/graduation JulyAlumni Chapter Event Sydney

AuguSTAlumni Chapter Event canberra

Public Lecture Series Human Rights and Social Justice lecture newcastle.edu.au/business-community/public-lectures

Alumni Chapter Event Hunter

SEPTEMBERPublic Lecture Series John Turner lecture newcastle.edu.au/business-community/public-lectures

OcTOBERCallaghan Graduation Ceremonies newcastle.edu.au/service/graduation 2013 Alumni Awards newcastle city Hall

Executive Committee of Alumni Annual general Meeting

To be part of the committee and represent your alumni community, register your interest at newcastle.edu.au/alumni

nOVEMBERSingapore Graduation Ceremony and Alumni Dinner [email protected]

Malaysia Alumni Reception [email protected]

Hong Kong Graduation Ceremony and Alumni Dinner [email protected]

dEcEMBERAlumni Chapter Christmas Drinks Hunter

newcastle.edu.au/business-community/public-lectures




newcastle.edu.au/service/graduation





newcastle.edu.au/gradlink

newcastle.edu.au/alumni

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The university’s Alumni Relations team welcomes your views on this magazine, and invites you to submit articles and/or profiles forconsideration. Alumni RelationsEmail us at [email protected] or call +61 2 4921 6699

Find us on Facebook:www.facebook.com/UONAlumni

Follow us on Twitter:www.twitter.com/UoNAlumni

Find us on LinkedIn: Universityof Newcastle Alumni, Australia

Pictures of events and chapterdetails are available onwww.newcastle.edu.au/alumni

Community Engagement T +61 2 4921 [email protected]/business

Office for the Advancementof Engaged LearningT +61 2 4921 [email protected]

University of Newcastle FoundationT +61 2 4921 [email protected]/foundation

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WIN1 of 3 iPADS

The Seahorse is giving you the chance to win one of three new 16GB iPads.To enter, simply tell us in 25 words or fewer which graduate featured in this issue of The Seahorse inspired you the most and why. Send your answer via email to [email protected]

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY •Entry must be sent via email to [email protected]

•The competition is open to university of newcastle graduates only

•To be eligible entrants must update their contact details on gRAdlinK newcastle.edu.au/gradlink

•Only one entry per graduate is permitted

•university of newcastle staff and their immediate families are not eligible to enter the competition

•competition closes at 5:00pm on 01.03.2013

•Winners will be announced on the alumni webpage and notified directly by email on 31.03.2013

•Each winner will receive an iPad 2 16gB wifi and iPad cover. Each prize is valued at $440.00

•competition results will be published in The Seahorse, edition 1 2013

the seahorse alumni magazine edition 2, 2012

Documents

alumni award finalists

campus82012 alumni awards

global alumni network

alumni medal joint recipients

university community

z i n e f o r

e r s i t yedition

important things