Pioneering health educator and pharmacist Reg Fitzpatrick has devoted a lifetime to raising community awareness of serious health issues in Central Queensland. 

As the first health education officer appointed in Queensland in 1974, Reg began to promote public health awareness when preventative medicine was still in its infancy and there were few health support groups in the community.  He was initially the sole representative of the Queensland Cancer Fund, the Heart Foundation and Diabetes Australia in Rockhampton and then acted as the catalyst for the formation of branches of those organisations which have since delivered profound benefits for the local community.

Reg also developed strong links with academia at a local level when he successfully completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at this institution and then undertook regular guest lectures and tutorials, often with a health focus for Nursing and Humanities students.  Demonstrating a commitment to lifelong learning, Reg also successfully undertook a Pharmaceutical Society of Australia academic fellowship administered by the University of Queensland. 

In 2008, his many achievements were recognised with an Order of Australian Medal for ‘service to the communities of Rockhampton and Yeppoon through health education, aged care welfare and the encouragement of photographic achievement'.

We too seek to recognise Reg as an outstanding CQUniversity alumnus who has made a real difference in the community, both as a health educator and as a pharmacist.