Leading lights of community honoured during graduation
Published on 16 September, 2010
Community leaders who have excelled across the sectors of transport, health, education, energy and history were honoured during CQUniversity's Rockhampton graduation ceremony this week (Sept 14)...
They included former QR CEO and CQUniversity Alumnus Bob Scheuber AM who, apart from being guest speaker, accepted the degree of Honorary Doctor of Business. A passion for local history and community service was recognised when Robert Macfarlane accepted the Honorary Award of Companion of the University. Ergon stalwart and outstanding mentor to engineering co-op students Trevor Gear accepted the degree of Honorary Master of Engineering.
Meanwhile, Paul Andersen's philanthropic vision in establishing the Fund for Accessing Potential expertise was recognised as he accepted the Honorary Award of Companion of the University. Pioneering health educator and pharmacist Reg Fitzpatrick OAM has devoted a lifetime to raising community awareness of serious health issues. He was present to accept the degree of honorary Master of Health Science.
A total of 164 graduates attended, including PhD recipients* Sandra Arnold; Mingjing Chen; Kerry Francis; Peter Scottney-Turbill; Robert Westlake; Au Shion Yee and Juliusz Zajaczkowski.
The ceremony was a milestone for 16 research higher degree candidates, which is the second-highest number so far. There was a record number of 10 higher degree graduates crossing the podium. Several of the masters graduates are continuing on to undertake a PhD.
Professor Rob Reed was presented with the 2009 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teacher of the Year and high-performing student Helen Ramoutsaki was presented with the FABIE Medal for academic excellence.
The response on behalf of graduates was delivered by graduate structural engineer Sean Kane.
* PhD recipient thesis titles:
Sandra Arnold Sing no sad songs: Grieving the death of a young adult child from cancer; Mingjing Chen Newspaper Journalism in Australia and China: a comparison of Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 Olympic coverage in two national dailies; Kerry Francis Finding meaning in tragedy: A social constructionist perspective; Peter Scottney-Turbill General Yueh Fei - a novel and accompanying exegesis; Au Shion Yee Neo-Renaissance? An Economic Analysis of Australian Regional Natural Resource Governance; Juliusz Zajaczkowski Analysis of the hierarchical fuzzy control using evolutionary algorithms; Robert Westlake An exploration of job relocation in a military context.