Distinguished surgeon Dr Mohamed Khadra* is the guest speaker for the CQU Sydney International Campus graduation ceremonies due on Monday, September 3.

A total of 596 graduates from around 30 nations are due to attend 2 ceremonies - at 10.30am and 3pm - at Grand Harbour Ballroom of Star City.

Dr Mohamed Khadra

Acting Chancellor Jim Tolhurst, Vice-Chancellor Professor John Rickard and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Services) Professor Alex Radloff will attend the event.

The morning - postgraduate - ceremony will include the awarding of a Professional Doctorate to Jing Zhu for her thesis on 'Developing an Interactive e-Marketing Model for SMES to Target 'University City' students in China' and the presentation of an Award for Teaching Excellence to Mr Peter Adams.

* Dr Mohamed Khadra is a urological surgeon and the Chairman and President of The institute of Technology Australia, which delivers programs world-wide.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has had a successful career as a leader in the fields of education and medicine.

As a Professor of Surgery and the Inaugural Chair of Surgery at the Australian National University, Dr Khadra designed a new curriculum and was successful in obtaining a $15 million grant to establish a Simulation Laboratory and to establish Robotics at the Canberra Hospital.

Whilst Pro Vice-Chancellor Health, Design and Science at the University of Canberra, he obtained a $10 million grant from the State Government for the construction of a health sciences building and introduced over 17 new areas of research and teaching.

He was the Inaugural Director of a project aimed at establishing Clinical Schools in rural environments in Australia, which ultimately resulted in a $110 million investment by the Government for the successful establishment of nine such schools.

Over the course of his career, Dr Khardra has been honoured with a multitude of awards and prizes, including the inaugural Bruce Pearson Fellowship from the Urological Society of Australasia, in 1996, and the prestigious New South Wales Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Noel Newton Medal, in 1995.  He is also the recipient of several research prizes.

A prolific writer, with over 55 refereed or invited publications appearing in esteemed scientific and education journals, he has also authored and co-authored several books and recently published an impressionistic memoir about his life as a surgeon.  Additionally, he has authored several software packages including a database manager, currently used by trainees throughout Australia, to summarise log-book activities.

Dr Khadra is multilingual and an accomplished musician with an interest in drawing, painting, poetry and literature.  He continues to supervise Masters and PhD students, as well as maintaining his medical practice.