Reconciliation advocate and Indigenous leader Dr Jackie Huggins, AM has been named the 2007 University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year.
Known internationally for her work as an author, academic and activist, Dr Huggins has served as the Deputy Director of UQ’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit since 1997, and joins previous awardees including Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush and Nobel laureate Peter Doherty.
A Bidjara and Birri-Gubba Juru woman, she holds Bachelors of Arts from both UQ and Flinders University (with Honours), a Diploma of Education and an honorary doctorate conferred by the University in December.
Dr Huggins said the award was an incredible honour and had made her reflect on her time as an undergraduate in the 1980s.
“These were days when education was free and they were quite different times politically, especially for Indigenous peoples,” she said.
“My son John was born while I was a student and I managed to complete my final years with high marks. I felt so proud to have managed full-time motherhood and full-time study. The great lecturers I had enabled me to be my own person in many ways, and to write and state the important things that I wanted to say.”
Dr Huggins was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2001, and as co-chair of Reconciliation Australia oversaw events earlier this year to mark the 40 year anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which saw Indigenous people included in the federal census for the first time.
She said her focus at UQ would continue to be working towards reconciliation, a cause that had shaped her life since childhood.
“Community engagement has always been a priority for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit. We have an excellent partnership with them and our peers and it is through these partnerships that we can engage in meaningful dialogue.
“Reconciliation is a generational matter and will not be solved tomorrow or the next day. We need to all take responsibility and work together to bring down the 17-year life expectancy gap which exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.”
Dr Huggins and the winners of the International and Young Alumnus of the Year categories will be presented with their awards at a special function at Customs House on September 26.
The awards are supported by UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay, AC, and the Alumni Association of The University of Queensland Inc.
Media: Dr Huggins (07 3365 6709, j.huggins@uq.edu.au) or Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
Images to accompany this release can be viewed
here. For high resolution copies, contact Diana Lilley (07 3365 2753, d.lilley@uq.edu.au)
