High-flying legal and business graduates will be acknowledged at University of Queensland graduation ceremonies tomorrow, July 21.
Faculty of Business, Economics and Law students will have their degrees conferred in ceremonies at 11am and 6pm at the UQ Centre, Union Rd, St Lucia campus.
John Desmarchelier AM ED will receive an honorary doctorate at the 11am ceremony. Mr Desmarchelier is a UQ Bachelor of Economics graduate.
He has an extensive 40-year business career in the raw sugar industry, was General Manager of the associations representing sugar millers from 1970 to 2000, and inaugural General Manager of Sugar Terminals Limited from 2000 to 2003.
He has been heavily involved with UQ for nearly five decades and has served on a broad number of University committees since 1993, including the UQ Senate.
Mr Desmarchelier was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 1988 for his contribution to the sugar industry, particularly in the areas of development, trade and industrial relations, and to the community.
He has served as a Director, National Safety Council of Australia and the Queensland Confederation of Industry.
He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Land and Food Sciences and the School of Natural and Rural Systems Management. He has served on the editorial board of the UQ magazine Graduate Contact since 1992.
Mr Desmarchelier said he was proud to receive the Doctor of Economics honoris causa.
“I have enormous admiration for UQ and have been associated with the University for nearly 50 years,” Mr Desmarchelier said.
“Many of my most satisfying contributions to the community have been while working with UQ, especially while serving on the UQ Senate, a position I held for 13 years.
“I plan to speak to students at the ceremony about the dynamic changes that have occurred in communication over the years. In particularly, changes in information access, comparing today with information sharing and access 50 years ago, when I was a student.”
CEO of the Australian Institute for Commercialisation Dr Rowan Gilmore will be guest speaker at the 6pm ceremony.
Dr Gilmore graduated from UQ with a Bachelor of Engineering and a University Medal in 1976.
He has worked as a field engineer in Asia for Schlumberger Limited, and in the IT and telecommunications industries in Europe and the US. He has also worked in Geneva and London as Vice President of Network Services for the global airline IT company SITA-Equant, now part of France Telecom.
He continues to hold links with UQ as an adjunct professor in the School of Business and School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering.
Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts Alumni Ryan Goss will receive his second University medal at the 6pm ceremony.
Mr Goss achieved high grades and first class honours in both Law and Arts. While at UQ he co-edited the UQ Law Society’s satirical Obiter magazine, and was a coach of the 2006 UQ Philip C Jessup International Law Moot team that represented Australia in Washington DC earlier this year.
Mr Goss is currently associate to the Hon Justice PA Keane of the Queensland Court of Appeal.
The valedictorian for the 11am ceremony is Sinnamon Park resident Jenny Van. Ms Van will receive Bachelor of Business Management and Bachelor of Commerce degrees.
Valedictorian at the 6pm ceremony is Young Anh of Salisbury. He will receive a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
To listen to Mr Desmarchelier's graduation speech, click here.
Media: Elizabeth Kerr, UQ Communications (07 3365 2339, 0422 940 572)
