Alumni of the year

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Powerlink Chair and the first woman to graduate from electrical engineering at UQ, Else Shepherd AM, is the University’s Alumnus of the Year for 2009.

2009 Alumnus of the Year Else Shepherd (left) with fellow award winners Thi Ngoc Diep Nguyen and Dr Catherine Schuetze

Ms Shepherd is part of the first trio of women to win UQ alumni of the year awards in the same year – the others being sanitation expert Thi Ngoc Diep Nguyen (International Alumnus of the Year), and animal welfare advocate, Dr Catherine Schuetze (Young Alumnus of the Year).

UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield and Alumni Friends of The University of Queensland Inc. Senior Vice-President Patricia Jones hosted the 2009 Courting the Greats lunch to recognise the winners at Customs House on November 26.

Professor Greenfield said UQ was honoured by a wealth of exceptional graduates, who reflected positively on to the University and inspired the students who followed them.

Ms Shepherd was motivated to pursue a career in engineering by the 1957 launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik.

After attending Brisbane Girls Grammar School, she began studying electrical engineering at UQ from 1962, graduating in 1965.

She married and went to live in Mackay for the next 18 years, working at the Sugar Research Institute as an operation research engineer for 10 years and raising two children.

By the end of 1983, she moved back to Brisbane and in 1986, formed Mosaic Information Technology, a company specialising in the design and manufacture of telecommunications products, particularly custom-designed modems.

In 2002, she co-developed a new company, Microwave & Materials Designs, specialising in microwave filters for mobile phones.

In 1994, Ms Shepherd was appointed to her current position as Chair of Powerlink – a new company set up by the Queensland Government to oversee the state’s electricity transmission system following the break-up of the Queensland Electricity Commission (QEC).

Powerlink owns, develops, operates and maintains Queensland’s $3 billion, 1700km high-voltage electricity transmission network.

For her contributions to engineering, education and the electricity generating industry, Ms Shepherd was appointed a Member in the General Division of the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Alumni Friends of The University of Queensland Inc. President Dalma Jacobs said the Alumni Friends were honoured Ms Shepherd had accepted the award of Alumnus of the Year for 2009.

The International Alumnus of the Year Award was introduced in 2002 to recognise the outstanding personal and professional achievements of the University’s international alumni community.

The criteria of the award considers contributions to the community and career achievements since graduating.

Ms Nguyen, who graduated with a Master of Social Planning and Development (Professional) from UQ in 2002 after completing her undergraduate studies in Vietnam, previously worked as a consultant to the Belgian Technical Cooperation on a project contributing to better sanitation for people living in the Tan Hoa–Lo Gom Canal area in Ho Chi Minh City.

She studied at UQ under a full scholarship of The Atlantic Philanthropies Coursework Masters Scholarship Program funded by The Atlantic Foundation and administered by The University of Queensland and Vietnam National University.

Nominees for UQ’s Young Alumnus of the Year must be under the age of 40 and are judged on their post-graduation career achievements and future plans, innovation and creativity, involvement within their communities and how their career achievements have benefited others.

Dr Schuetze, who graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Biology from UQ in 1993 and a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1995, has since devoted her life and career to the cause of animal welfare.

She founded and is the current President of VetCharityOrg (now known as Vets Beyond Borders), and lives in India.

She spends her time developing strategic partnerships with governments, animal welfare organisations and NGOs and has helped establish several animal welfare programs in India with a focus on national dog health, population management and rabies control.

Dr Schuetze has worked with wildlife and domestic animals in veterinary practice in different parts of the world (Africa, United Kingdom, India, Australia) over the past 14 years, in both employed and voluntary capacities.

By Shirley Glaister

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