University of Queensland Provost and Vice-President Professor Max Lu was honoured last night at a dinner in Canberra attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Professor Lu was a winner in the inaugural Australia-China Council Achievement Awards in the Education category.
Council chairman Warwick Smith AM said the new national awards program celebrated individuals, organisations and groups who advanced Australia-China relations in the arts, entrepreneurship and education.
“There can never be enough encouragement and support for those working towards building stronger connections between the two nations,” Mr Smith wrote to Professor Lu last week.
“The Achievement Awards are an opportunity to thank you for your tireless work to develop, improve and grow the bilateral education and science relationship.
“On behalf of the Australia-China Council and the Australian Government, I congratulate you on being selected the winner of the Australia-China Achievement Award and joining an exceptional group of champions of the bilateral relationship.”
Professor Lu is an international research leader in materials chemistry and nanotechnology.
Three years ago Chinese state leaders presented him with a prestigious science and technology award in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said Professor Lu had been advancing Sino-Australian relations since he arrived at UQ as a PhD student on an Overseas Postgraduate Research Scholarship in 1987.
“Max has excelled as a scientist and educator, and has generously taken others with him – by mentoring younger researchers and linking Australians with some of China’s leading nanotechnologists,” Professor Høj said.
“His research is helping harness nanotechnology for the sustained prosperity of both our nations and for wider society, and the outcomes will continue to gather momentum and be enjoyed by future generations.”
Professor Lu has served on many government committees and advisory groups, including those under the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (2004, 2005 and 2009) and the Australian Research Council College of Experts (2002-2004).
He is the past chairman of the Institution of Chemical Engineers Australia and former director of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Professor Lu is an Institute for Scientific Information highly cited author in both chemistry and materials science (with more than 28,000 citations and an h-index of 82).
His national and international awards include the China International Science and Technology Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences International Co-operation Award, Orica Award, RK Murphy Medal, Le Fevre Prize, ExxonMobil Award, Chemeca Medal, Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia and Top 50 Most Influential Chinese in the World.
He was named as a Queensland Great in 2013.
Professor Lu is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and a fellow of IChemE and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Media: UQ Communications, +61 7 3346 7086, communications@uq.edu.au; Professor Lu on Twitter: @oneinbillion.
