About 750 University of Queensland students will receive degrees at three ceremonies this week at Mayne Hall, St Lucia, on Tuesday, August 12 and Thursday, August 14.
Ceremony highlights include:
Tuesday, August 12, 6pm
- Guest speaker at the ceremony for 300 students from the Arts Faculty; Schools of Engineering and Law, will be University Senator Robert Wensley QC. Mr Wensley is a University of Queensland honours graduate in both engineering and law, and also is a master of engineering science graduate of the University.
- Graduating student speaker at the ceremony Andrew Bain will be awarded a bachelor of arts with first class honours in history for his studies of early medieval Europe supervised by Dr John Moorehead. Mr Bain completed his parallel bachelor of arts and bachelor of economics degrees in 1995. Within weeks of completing his honours thesis in May, he joined the State Department of Economic Development and Trade as a project officer. In his three-minute speech, Mr Bain will discuss his experiences as a student and thank people who helped him achieve his goals. Contact: telephone 322 45919 (work).
- Andrew Graham (bachelor of engineering, mining), Derek Nuss (bachelor of arts, history) and Jennifer Tunny (bachelor of arts, ancient history) will be awarded University medals.
Thursday, August 14, 6pm
- University Chancellor Sir Llew Edwards will welcome about 200 students who are graduating in science, applied science and agriculture. A copy of Sir Llew's address is available on request (telephone 3365 1120).
- The guest speaker is Dr Elizabeth Heij, chief, CSIRO Division of Tropical Agriculture. Hobart-born Dr Heij is the author of more than 100 scientific publications in cell biology of fertilization in flowering plants.
- Student medallists to receive their awards at the ceremony will be Gordon Corfield and Elizabeth Leeson (both bachelor of veterinary science).
Thursday, August 14, 8pm
- About 250 students from the Business, Economics and Law Faculty; Social and Behavioural Sciences Faculty; Health Sciences Faculty; Schools of Music, and Architecture and Planning will graduate, including:
- Martin Love, the Queensland Bulls Sheffield Shield batsman who will receive a degree in physiotherapy. Mr Love has had ample opportunity to put his studies into practice during rehabilitation from a knee reconstruction operation last year. He has also used his enforced lay-off from the game as an intensive study period, instead of trying to structure his studies around the heavy demands of the cricket season. Mr Love, 23, plans to work as a physiotherapist during the off-season until his playing days are over, hopefully in about a decade, and not before he has donned the baggy green cap of Australia. Contact telephone 3379 1066.(See separate press release) .
- Dr Derrin Davis will be awarded a PhD for his study of the development of recreational scuba diving, supervised by head of the University's Economics Department, Professor Clem Tisdell. His thesis highlighted the need for environmental monitoring programs in heavily-used diving locations. Dr Davis said recreational scuba diving was one of the fastest growing international sports, with more than 100,000 new scuba certificates issued each year in Australia. About two million dives are completed annually, with the total value of recreational diving businesses exceeding $360 million a year. Contact telephone 066 203 775 (work), email: ddavis@scu.edu.au
- Guest speaker will be executive director of the Australian Centre for Innovation and International Competitiveness Limited Dr Mal Bryce AO, who is a consultant to the University of Queensland on the planning and development of its Ipswich campus. Dr Bryce is a director of a number of companies, architect of the Global Info Links project in Ipswich, and is a former Western Australian Deputy Premier and Minister for Technology. A copy of Dr Bryce's speech is available on request (telephone 3365 1120).
- Graduating student speaker at the ceremony is Susan Daniels, who will receive a Master of Business Administration. Ms Daniels, who also has a degree in music, had been a senior arts manager in Australia and overseas before becoming a MBA student. As well as studying full-time, Ms Daniels worked both as a tutor at the University and in consulting. She has achieved her aim of expanding her horizons beyond arts, and is now working as a management consultant. Contact: telephone 3254 0814 (work).
For further information, contact the University Graduations Officer, Donna Gauld, telephone 3365 2898.
