The State Government has recognised The University of Queensland’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Max Lu, and prominent UQ alumna Dr Dimity Dornan, for their significant contributions to society.
Both were among six Queensland Greats, named at a Queensland Week ceremony at Roma St Parklands this morning (Sunday 2 June).
UQ’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Høj, said he was delighted to congratulate such exceptional people as Professor Lu and Dr Dornan on UQ’s behalf.
“Max is a consummate Queensland Great who projects Queensland innovation on to the world stage, and attracts international investment to Queensland research and development,” Professor Høj said.
“His research output alone is tremendous, and when you add his inventions, his mentoring of young researchers, his linking of research with industry, and his community and philanthropic work, he is nothing short of phenomenal.
“Like Max, Dimity has a PhD from UQ. Her doctoral research focussed on children with hearing loss – the type of children who have benefitted from her intellect, compassion and energy for many years.
“In 2011 UQ recognised Dimity with our highest award for an alumnus, Alumnus of the Year, and people throughout the UQ community will be delighted to see her officially named a Queensland Great.”
Professor Lu is known for his work on nanoparticles and nanoporous materials for clean energy and environmental technologies.
He first came to UQ in 1987 to study for his PhD. Later he spent three years lecturing at Singapore’s Nanyang Technical University, before returning to UQ in 1994.
Last year, then-Chinese president Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiao Bao presented Professor Lu with a prestigious science and technology award in a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Professor Lu received the prestigious ARC Federation Fellowship twice (2003 and 2008). He has served on a number of government committees and advisory and working groups, including the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (2004, 2005, 2009) and ARC College of Experts (2002-2004).
He is a board member of the Australian Synchrotron, National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources, and Research Data Storage Infrastructure.
Dr Dornan is managing director of Hear and Say, a not-for-profit program she founded in 1992.
She graduated from UQ with a Bachelor of Speech Therapy in 1976, and UQ awarded her Doctor of Philosophy in 2011.
Hear and Say enables children with hearing loss to listen and speak through the use of modern technology, combined with the education of parents and children.
In 1992, Dr Dornan was awarded a Churchill Fellowship. She became a Member of the Order of Australia in 1998 and a Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia in 1999.
She received an Australian Medical Association award for services to medicine in 1999, was the 2003 Australian of the Year for Queensland, the Ernst & Young Australian Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005 and Suncorp Queenslander of the Year in 2010.
Indigenous poet Herb Wharton, whose work is published through University of Queensland Press, also was named a Queensland Great this morning.
Other recipients were:
• Tim Fairfax AM, chancellor of Queensland University of Technology
• Stefan Ackerie, entrepreneur and founder of the Stefan hairdressing chain
• The Red Cross Society
UQ was named a Queensland Great in 2010, the University’s centenary year.
Contact: Fiona Cameron, UQ Communications, ph +61 7 3346 7086.
