The Women's College Magazine Vol 34 2018 by Tiffany Donnelly

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Sibyl sees THE FUTURE

The Women’s College Magazine is published annually to report on the activities of the College. Our students study across a range of degrees at the University of Sydney, and our alumnae cover many fields of professional endeavour. The Magazine exists to tell the stories of this proud and unique women’s institution. THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE 15 Carillon Avenue The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia www.thewomenscollege.com.au Postal PO Box 743 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Telephone +61 (0)2 9517 5000 Twitter @WomensColl Facebook @TheWomensCollege Instagram womenscoll ISSN 2204-1028 Editor Tiffany Donnelly Art Direction Whale Design Co., Virginia Buckingham Cover The Sibyl Centre. PHOTO: Marinco Kojdanovski Opposite The Sibyl Centre under construction. PHOTO: Dr Lin Hu Additional Photography and Images Brett Boardman, Paul Donnelly, Ryan Hernandez, Daisy Hingston, Lin Hu, Marinco Kojdanovski, Haline Ly, Sydney Morning Herald, NSW State Archives, Women’s College Archives, staff, students and alumnae of the Women’s College

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THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE • VOLUME 34 2018

CONTENTS

SIBYL SEES THE FUTURE

Connection and Community: The Sibyl Centre

LEADERSHIP AND SCHOLARSHIP

Opening Remarks

Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO shares her tribute from the opening of the Sibyl Centre in March 2018

Song for Sibyl Commissioned for the opening of the Sibyl Centre, the Song for Sibyl commemorates the College’s place in women’s history in Australia

Aere Perennius A wall of bronze plaques bears inspirational quotations selected by significant College donors

Principal Dr Amanda Bell AM reveals the thinking behind the inspired architectural design of the Sibyl Centre

Dalyell Scholars A new Sydney University scholars’ program is launched, with more than twenty Women’s College freshers numbered in the first cohort

Change for Good Lucy McDonald, Senior Student 2018 describes the makeover of the Langley wing and the impact of the Broderick Review on student life at College

Raising Support Acknowledging the philanthropic support of our donors, January to December 2017

HONOURING OUR HERITAGE

Achievements Alumnae and members of the Women’s College community are recognised for their recent awards and achievements

Vale Daphne Elliott AM, Alison (Adèle) Millerd, Mary Newlinds OAM and Coralie Peddie

The Sibyl Centre Opening Photographic moments

SIBYL SEES THE FUTURE

CONNECTION AND COMMUNITY

The Sibyl Centre Women’s College Principal Dr Amanda Bell AM explains the philosophy behind the Sibyl Centre, with its historical and contemporary references.

o feel connected to a community and a place is fundamental to understanding oneself. Women’s College has been particularly successful in being the centre of forming and fostering female friendships and connections since 1892. In part, this strength has stemmed from women living, studying and socialising together. But it has also been because of the place; the architectural impact of their home. Successful architectural design results from thorough research, deep understanding of the context and clients and a selfless aspiration to improve the lived experience. Attention in the design to nuanced references peculiar to a place; sensitive materials and beautiful craftsmanship; positioning within the landscape, including the existing built and natural environment. It is inspiring to collaborate with an architect who first and foremost sought to profoundly understand the history and ambition of the Women’s College as a first principle. To respect and enhance the existing environment and focus on the possibilities to improve upon what others had imagined and realised previously.

PHOTOS: (Left) Brett Boardman; (Above) Ryan Hernandez

CONNECTION AND COMMUNITY: THE SIBYL CENTRE

“While the public face of the Sibyl Centre combines latest construction methods to project an arresting façade profiling one of our much-loved historic photographs, there are other subtle and marvellous notes that gently resonate throughout.”

THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE • VOLUME 34 2018

This truly beautiful expression of our thoroughly modern Women’s College should not be seen in isolation from its counterpoint buildings – Langley, Reid and Main especially. While the public face of the Sibyl Centre combines latest construction methods to project an arresting façade profiling one of our much-loved historic photographs, there are other subtle and marvellous notes that gently resonate throughout. For example: • The curves of virtually every wall and space in the building echo the curved arches and windows in the Main Building. • The brickwork is an essay in itself; the entire College is built from Bowral Bricks and the colour variations of each wing reflect the quarried clay at a point in time, as does the design of each building – the Sibyl Centre is no different. The bricks have been laid in a somewhat demanding Flemish bond style, where half bricks become their own rich detail. There are also beautifully tactile curved brick edges and butterflied details in the windowsills. • The truly splendid parquetry floor, radiating from a hexagon – out in chevrons – to the curved edges is a special nod to the original parquetry floors in Langley and the Reid foyer. • The stately stone entry stairs from the Western Avenue Forecourt to the Sibyl Foyer with their curved bronze handrails borrow their grandeur from the sweeping central staircase leading up to Main – so generously restored by the late Sally Crossing in 2000. • And the grass berm at the front of Sibyl visually mirrors the impressive grassy embankment in front of Main. There are so many small aspects of this clever design to explore; intelligent details that connect to the architectural foundations and maturity of the College in its entirety. Nothing is straightforward in this building – literally. The time frames have been demanding, the site constraints limiting; the client and architect relentless PHOTO: Brett Boardman

perfectionists. The building contractors, AW Edwards, are commended for their willingness to collaborate and appreciate the complexity and vision inherent in the design brief. Our close relationship with the University of Sydney has been undeniably proven time and again throughout this project. Nothing of monumental importance and impact occurs in an organisation without the courage of a visionary Council and a diligent, energetic staff. And at Women’s College, nothing occurs without the support and understanding of our girls, alumnae, parents and friends. Together this project belongs to you all – it is our Sibyl Centre. And to achieve that healthy balance of connectedness and belonging, the aspirational aesthetic needs to result from careful concern for everything to be of the highest quality; lofty vistas to the landscape beyond; warm, textural surfaces; the artful arrangements of colour and light; and the synergy between the natural and constructed spaces – spaces that invite lingering, enjoying and appreciating. A place that strengthens community and uplifts the soul – the deft meeting of the individual with where she belongs. The Sibyl Centre is conceived and designed uniquely for our women. To stand anywhere within it, you feel connected to the “other”, an enigmatic sense of security in its vastness. Lead architect, Michael Banney of m3architecture, titled his doctoral thesis Anecdotal Evidence and to explore the Sibyl Centre with this phrase in mind reveals the creative key to its success in many ways. Its distinctly gendered aesthetic is unique – reminiscent of Banney’s personal creative tenet that pushes against material obsession in favour of things geared to work beyond themselves and sit in a broader frame of reference – things underpinned by geometry, carpentry, light and space and air. And not to mention making the old thing proud of its new youthful companion. CONNECTION AND COMMUNITY: THE SIBYL CENTRE

SIBYL SEES THE FUTURE

Opening Remarks The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO shares her tribute to the College as she declares the Sibyl Centre open on 22 March 2018. This is a modified version of her speech for this edition.

ood evening ladies and gentleman. Dr Amanda Bell, Principal of the College: thank you for your warm welcome, your kind words of introduction. I know that you understand how much your invitation to this splendid event means to me. I acknowledge the traditional keepers and my debt to wise Indigenous women who have taught me across my life what it means to be an elder. Sharing language, country, culture. I join Dr Bell in recognising across this gathering generous contributors to the College, people of vision, wisdom – investing in our nation’s future – committed to the advancement of women’s education. I note with appreciation the presence of Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson, Vice Chancellor Dr Michael Spence, Chair of Council, Julie McKay, Honorary Fellows of College, past Principals of College,

PHOTO: Ryan Hernandez

distinguished alumnae, students, architects, builders and dear friends. It is an honour – one which brings enormous joy – to be with you for this extremely auspicious moment in the history of our College; the opening of this superbly designed, skillfully crafted Sibyl Centre, the first new College building in its own right since the opening of Langley almost fifty years ago. An architectural triumph of its time, in the same way Main was in 1894; the work of universally acclaimed Sulman and Power. Architecture has always been about beautiful places for scholars at our much loved institution of learning. Creative and aspirational. The very best for ‘our girls.’ The magnificent Sibyl Centre seeks to pay homage to all College has sought to achieve: a brilliant education, that nurtures young women, that looks out to the University, and to the world beyond.

OPENING REMARKS

“The magnificent Sibyl Centre seeks to pay homage to all College has sought to achieve: a brilliant education, that nurtures young women, that looks out to the University, and to the world beyond.”

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The metaphorical threshold from their academic home to all that is ahead for them. This auditorium space is for lectures, for performances. The mezzanine learning library above meeting changes in study concepts. Music rehearsal rooms to mark the talent within the soul of this place. The rooftop terrace – a nod to treasured balconies, a feature here since 1894. The relaxed, intimate outside spaces where students have enjoyed each other’s company, generation after generation, sitting back, talking, thinking about what their futures hold for them. The outdoor has been integral to design in College building since foundation, reflecting the intrinsic qualities that both the built and natural surroundings play in the vitality of our young ones. Women’s has always been ahead of its time in care and attention to the profound importance of creativity, of beauty, aesthetics, of music, art, tended gardens, jacaranda blossoms, wisteria, lavender. Fostering an appreciation of the arts and the natural world nourishes hearts and minds, the path to greater understanding of the world, of tolerance and appreciation of change, alongside elements of challenge and calm. The essential human qualities of resilience, curiosity, courage, compassion, kindness. With quiet reflections for personal growth, comes the joie de vivre of College days. At its centre the dining hall. It’s in the togetherness there that one finds serendipitous exchanges that often become significant: an English honours student extolling the exquisite language of a new poem. A medical student retelling the scariness of giving her first injection. Engineering, political science, vet students glued to storytelling – listening to something absolutely intriguing they’d never imagined. The magic of new ideas.

PHOTO: Ryan Hernandez

I remember the first and last time I went to breakfast in the dining hall; my absolute amazement finding nearly everyone in their pyjamas. But it’s the dinners at end of day that I have stored in my memory. Especially Monday nights. When Michael and I reminisce, as we are prone to do, the words that come again and again are: enriching, rewarding, exhilarating. Vivacious, outrageous fun. Quirky, spontaneous expressions of camaraderie, of sisterhood, solidarity. Cheering on, spooning in. Diversity in the truest sense. The source of liveliness, energy, character. There were sobering exchanges too. Serious time for sensitivity, for empathy. It was an extraordinary privilege to be Principal of this College, in the heart of it all. I was deeply conscious of the unique opportunity to contribute to our country, to its future by doing everything possible I could to encourage, support, and enable every scholar to develop every aspect of her potential in those important influential years of transition from girlhood to womanhood. I cherish my friendships with ‘my girls’. I follow their milestones, their personal, professional, political efforts across every endeavour and field as they make the world a better place. I hold in highest regard their sense of responsibility to give back as educated, informed, intelligent citizens. We keep in touch, across neighbourhoods and nations. College has kept faithful records of the service, selflessness, and accomplishments of its alumnae. The archive is rich and impressive. Its oral histories are a mirror of the life and times of a place, a city, a nation. The biographical registers. The stunning black and white photographs in Main corridor.

OPENING REMARKS

“We celebrate a community of scholars that transcends time; a place which stands for the bright future to come for our young women and all they can be.”

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The year photos in Menzies Gallery that people look into for hours to spot themselves and their pals. Images to bring each generation a deep awareness of their relationship with past students. The proud history they share. I admire and respect the way Women’s keeps lovely traditions, while at the same time being thoroughly contemporary and modern in a fast-paced, changing world where nothing stays the same or stands still for long. It’s a huge challenge to keep that balance just right. One that depends on leadership. It began in this College with Louisa Macdonald. Her certainty of the value of a residential college for women as a centre and a home for intellectual life, set a tone of inspirational leadership which propelled the College forward and continues to do so today. We see around us a constant focus and conversation on equal pay, equal representation at senior management level and the board table; equality of access to professional disciplines, to the armed services; to equality of treatment and feeling equally valued, safe from violence and oppression. In many ways, this conversation, our suffragette history and the College’s very purpose led absolutely to participating and engaging actively in Elizabeth Broderick’s Cultural Review into the colleges at this University. I know that the Council and staff embraced the process alongside students and alumnae as wholehearted contributors to Ms Broderick’s ground-breaking work. College is implementing every recommendation with diligence and dedication. It is, after all, about women for women, for now and the future: their welfare, safety, agency, leadership, support.

PHOTO: Ryan Hernandez

I commend Elizabeth, Women’s College, other colleges involved and the University for seeking to improve the context in which our young women and men live, study and socialise. A model to be followed by others around the country. Many of us this evening will be indulging in affectionate nostalgia about College, about enduring friendships, about how lucky we are in having been part of the contemporary evolution of an institution that enhances profoundly and significantly the efficacy of University education of young women in our country. There is reassurance and delight in belonging to a community that we care for deeply – one that strives for excellence in academe, for setting the best environment possible for learning. Where effective structures enrich opportunities to expand knowledge in disciplines as diverse as molecular biology and aesthetic philosophy. Our students have access to tutors, mentors and role models: relationships of import with people who genuinely enjoy engaging and making a difference. Scholarships which recognise all-round merit, intellectual capacity, community service. This program is vital to the College’s dedicated philosophy of inclusion. The first – The Grace Frazer Entrance Scholarship was given by Mrs CB Fairfax in 1892. Each one that has followed has added its own lustre. Scholarships like the Marjorie Dalgarno, mother of Dr Janet McCredie. Both women belonged to this College. Marjorie was a pioneer of diagnostic radiology: she brought mammography to Australia, leaving a legacy with a profound impact on women’s health in our nation.

OPENING REMARKS

“How lucky we are in having been part of the contemporary evolution of an institution that enhances profoundly and significantly the efficacy of University education of young women in our country.”

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Young Indigenous women have been supported through scholarships given by thoughtful benefactors over the College’s history: the Maple-Brown family, Della Elliott, Lorna Woodberry. Scholarships make College accessible and possible for young women from rural and remote communities. Often girls who are the first to come to university, for whom Women’s has been a haven and a home in unfamiliar metropolitan Sydney. The Albert Family Music Scholarship has literally launched the musical careers of more than thirty talented young composers, singers and instrumentalists. The Katrina Dawson Foundation Scholarship, reflecting the exceptional attributes of a stunning Senior Student, encourages others to aspire to leadership in all its permutations. Katrina’s life and work set a benchmark for professional women. The scholarship which honours this legacy has already assisted seven young women to attend the College. They are from diverse backgrounds and places across Australia: Gilgandra, the Hunter Valley, the Snowy Mountains, Canberra, Kingscliff, Mudgee, Dalby. These scholars walk in the footsteps of a young woman who knew the value of women’s empowerment in all the ways it is captured and fostered in our College. We come together this evening to celebrate a community of scholars that transcends time; a place which stands for the bright future to come for our young women and all they can be. In some ways, Louisa Macdonald created the Sibyl. The play she commissioned in 1913, known as A Mask, paid homage to the College’s coming of age by surveying the history of women’s achievements, and it looked to a future when women’s spheres of influence would be immeasurably widened by the transformative power of education. Its central figure, Sibyl, envisions the struggle future women of the College would encounter on the way to full freedom of expression, and the “greater life” open to them through access to knowledge

PHOTO: Marinco Kodjanovski

and employment. Like Louisa herself, Sibyl was a visionary character, confident that the College would ignite women’s aspirations and transform the social landscape of the nation through greater participation. And here we find ourselves in the personification of the Sibyl. A truly beautiful expression of all that has inspired the College’s past, that embraces the imagination of women now and into the future; that adds to their home and places already loved, but is responsive to education today, facilitating collective debate and study contexts; music performance for the young violinist or pianist, engineering studios, technology, architecture and design project areas. These are all important social places where casual conversations happen and turn into rich debates while lifelong friendships develop. As we look around we see those details that the architects and builders have laboured over. We see the warmth of materials, the sensitive use of line, colour and shape, subtle references to Main, Langley, Reid. And that magnificent copper screen with its image of female players from A Mask. My friends, there is no question whatsoever when seen from Western Avenue and the University Campus that this is The Women’s College. Contemporary. Resolved in its relevance and strength of place within this University, this city and this country. Amanda, across the long years of our friendship I have observed in you a distinct propensity for being a builder. I congratulate you on translating your vision, your understanding and knowledge of art and beauty, your commitment to feminism, to women’s education, and to scholarship into this magnificent building. We are indebted to you and to all those who have made it possible. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour to declare the Sibyl Centre open.

OPENING REMARKS

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SIBYL SEES THE FUTURE

Song Sibyl FOR

A newly commissioned piece of music celebrates the opening of our remarkable new building, and her namesake.

he Song for Sibyl, composed by Women’s College alumna Amy Bastow [2004–07], was performed for the first time publicly at the official opening of the Sibyl Centre on 22 March 2018. The sevenminute piece was written for string quartet and clarinet, and set to music a sonnet to the College written by Vice Principal Dr Tiffany Donnelly. The commissioning of the piece was funded by a generous donation from Mrs Antoinette Albert and her daughters, Emily and Anna. The Albert family has supported two decades of Women’s College music scholarships, launching the careers of more than thirty talented musicians at College.

(4th year Bachelor of Performance Studies) on cello and Clare Fox (3rd year Bachelor of Performance Studies) on clarinet, with guest violist Tim Yu. The Women’s College Choir was led by Chloe Robbins (4th year Bachelor of Performance Studies).

The Song for Sibyl was performed at the opening by current students Annabelle Traves (4th year Bachelor of Performance Studies) and Josephine Goldman (3rd year Bachelor Arts Languages) on violin, Emma Rayner

Amy graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2008 with First-Class Honours in Composition, and was a recipient of the Women’s College music scholarship.

PHOTO: The play commissioned for Women’s College in 1913, A Mask, featured the Sibyl as its protagonist, shown here in dark costuming. (1932 production photo, Women’s College Archives)

Amy Bastow has worked as a Composer and music Producer on projects with all the major Australian television networks, in addition to National Geographic, Netflix, Fox, Endemol Shine Group, Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. Her work on the documentary Deepsea Challenge produced by Hollywood film-maker James Cameron earned her an Australian Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.

SONG FOR SIBYL

“Women’s has always been ahead of its time in care and attention to the profound importance of creativity, of beauty, aesthetics, of music, art … Fostering an appreciation of the arts and the natural world nourishes hearts and minds.” Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

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SON NET TO WOMEN’S COL LEGE Among the amber spires of Sydney clay Stands a woman, the first of all her peers. She sees the future crystalline as day, Beyond horizons to unclaimed frontiers. Silver sandalled, dressed in scholar’s gown, She scales the ranks of faculty and field; Upon her brow a gleaming copper crown, Twin arts and science worked upon her shield. She holds with lightest touch in steady hands The learned mortar of her education, A child, a golden lyre, a pen, just plans, And lifts her voice as mother of the nation. They say a woman’s work is never done; And so her immortality is won.

TIFFANY DONNELLY

PHOTOS: Ryan Hernandez

SONG FOR SIBYL

RAISING SUPPORT The Women’s College acknowledges the generous support of its donors, 1 January — 31 December 2017

Pacita Alexander Jennifer Alison Alliance Catering Allsopp Family Foundation Andrew Cameron Family Foundation Ann & Derek Armstrong Jean Ashton Sally Auld Frances Auster Deanna Austin Australian Institute of Management Jane Baird Victoria Baker Janet Barclay Mary Barton AO Marie Bashir AD CVO Justine Beaumont Eileen Bell Amanda Bell AM Kerrie Bigsworth Camille Blackburn Kevin Blackburn Alison Blattman Fiona Boal Jennifer Brien Kathryn Brooke Elisebeth Broughton Katherine Brown Peter Bull Alexandra Bune AM David & Belinda Cadwallader

Bronwynne Calvert

Saadia Durham

Lachlan Gyles

Penelope Cameron

Victoria Edwards

Rachel Haines

Elizabeth Campbell

Maryam Eghtedari

Pauline Harding

Matthew Campbell

Elizabeth Elliott AM

Joanne Hawker

Rosemary Campbell

Mary Elsley

Jennifer Hawkins

Yvonne Campbell

Janet Hay

Wendy Carter

Estate of The Late Lorna May Woodberry

Nora Chan

James Fairfax AC

Margaret Henderson

Henrietta Cheshire

Julia Featherstone

Sheila Henderson

Philippa Childs

Anne Fenwicke

Jill Henry

Diana Choquette

Sven & Kendal Fittler

Peter Herrmann

Lavinia Chrystal

David Flanagan

Jacqueline Hicks

Katy Clymo

Janet Flint

Jill Hickson AM

George Confos

Stephanie Fogl

Melissa Hinde

Elizabeth Constable

Jill Forrest AM

Denise Hines

Jenny Cooke

Tiffany Foster

Kathryn Hinsley

John Copland AO

Leonie Fraser

Cherrell Hirst AO

Oliver Court

Denise Fung

Richard Holden

Robert & Eleanor Cowan

Olma Gan

Elizabeth Howard

Nerida Croker

Yuh-Lin Gan

Suzanne Howarth

Richard & Anita Dammery

Lucinda Garling

Irrewarra Estate Pty Ltd

Jennifer Davidson

Carolyn Gavel

Theresa Jacques

Samantha Gavel

Robyn Jamieson

Antonina Gentile

Leonard Janiszewski

Christine Donnelly

Katherine Georgouras OAM

Roslyn Jehne

Paul & Tiffany Donnelly

Jennifer Giles

Virginia Dowd

Anna Joyce

Rebecca Gill

Barbara Dowe

Katrina Gonzalez

Katherine & Thyne Reid Foundation

Melanie Drake

Jessie Kelly

Catherine Drayton

Christopher & Patricia Goodman

Robyn Drew

Felicity Graham

Andrew Killen

Ronald & Vanessa Driver

Rebecca Griffin

Alisha King

Gillian Dunlop

Alison Gyger

Amanda Kirby

Gineke de Haan David & Claire Dixon

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Lindy Henderson

Susan Johnson

Alice Killen

Lilian Kirk

Prudence McCullagh

Rosemary Page

Elisabeth Tondl

Meredith Kirkwood

Brett & Karryn McFadyen

Elizabeth Palmer

Samantha Traves

Helen Knott

Honor McFadyen

Hayley Paproth

Roger Traves QC

Lucy Shook Yiu Koe

Mary McGuirk

Louise Parsons

Charlotte Trent

Anne Le Couteur

Jeannette McHugh

Rachel Peterson

John Tropman

Jessica Lees

Diana McKay

Geoffrey Phillips

Jakelin Troy

Rosalind Lehane

Julie McKay

Julia Pincus

TST Property Services

Diane Quinlin

Leo Tutt OAM

Christa Lenard Sharon Leow Patricia Lesslie Jill L’Estrange Tina Leung Jocelyn Lloyd Angie Lu Pauline Lyle-Smith Elizabeth MacDiarmid Frances Macdonald Robin MacDonald Skye MacFarlane James & Catherine Mactier Sarah Madew Joanna Maher Doyle Mallett Magdalen Malone Megan Manwaring Maple-Brown Family Foundation Limited

Leah McKenzie Katie Michelakis John & Pauline Michelakis Elizabeth Miller Michael Miller Katrina Milliner Judith Mills Wendy Minne Marjorie Moffatt Stephanie Moffitt Lucy Moloney Philip Montgomery Megan Morrison Joycelyn Morton Catherine Munro Olivia Murphy Crispin & Kate Murray Sandra Nash National Bank of Australia National Gallery of Victoria

Ann Rémond Phoebe Reede Goetz Richter Joan Rofe Catherine Rothery Katherine Sainsbury Patricia Selkirk AAM Trish Sharp Lorna Siah Melissa & Michael Slattery Julia Smart Natalie Smith Judith Soper Simon Spicer Gerald Stack Leone Steele Rosalind Strong AM Tessa Swadling

Nioka Tyson UBS AG Antonia Waddy Mary Walker Elizabeth Walkley Lucinda Warren Alison Watkins Louise Watson Judith Webb Sarah Webster Westpac Banking Corporation Chloe Wighton Alan & Ethel Wigzell Helen Wiles Alice Wilson John Wilson Karen Wilson Peter Wilson

Sandra Taylor

Gay Windeyer Antilla Winston-Smith

Betty Marks OAM

Lisa Newling

The Betty Barton Foundation

Don Markwell

Annie Ng

Elizabeth Thompson

Women’s College Alumnae Committee

Bronwyn Matthews

Janice Nicholas

Mabel Tindal

Josh & Grace Wong

Brian & Eleanor McCourt

Cherry O’Donnell

Margaret Tink

Margaret Wood

Janet McCredie AM

Mary Page

Jane Todd

Paul Wormell

PHOTO: Ryan Hernandez

RAISING SUPPORT

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LEADERSHIP AND SCHOLARSHIP

Aere Perennius A wall of bronze plaques in the new Sibyl Centre bears inspirational quotations selected by members of the College community.

he official opening of the Sibyl Centre on 22 March 2018 also saw the unveiling of a new commemorative wall of bronze plaques bearing quotations personally chosen by members of the Women’s College community. The Aere Perennius plaques (from the Latin “more lasting than bronze”) have been hung in the foyer of the Sibyl Centre. Forged in bronze, the plaques acknowledge donors who have made a significant contribution to the College. It is hoped that the quotations on the plaques will provide inspiration to the students who walk past the commemorative wall each day on their way to university classes or to a quiet study session in the new Sibyl Centre. The College wishes to acknowledge its ongoing gratitude for the support received from all of our donors.

PHOTO: Ryan Hernandez

Twenty-three plaques have been hung to date, with quotations including: • Light tomorrow with today. Elizabeth Barrett Browning • In my day I was told women didn’t go into chemistry. I saw no reason why we couldn’t. Gertrude Elion • That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all and yet it always feels as if it costs you nothing. Simone de Beauvoir • You can have it all, just not all at the same time. Dame Quentin Bryce AD, CVO For further information on the Aere Perennius plaques, please contact Philanthropy Coordinator Alisha King: a.king@thewomenscollege.com.au or telephone 02 9517 5000.

AERE PERENNIUS

“Being a part of the inaugural group of Dalyell Scholars is an extreme honour. It is a program that celebrates not only academic achievement and sustained scholarship, but also esoteric intellectual interests, providing a supportnetwork for goal-setting and meeting like-minded individuals.” 2018 Dalyell Scholar Olivia-James McKeown

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LEADERSHIP AND SCHOLARSHIP

Dalyell Scholars A significant new scholars’ program named after Women’s College alumna, Elsie Dalyell.

n 2018 the University of Sydney recruited its first group of Dalyell Scholars — high-achieving students with an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) or equivalent score of 98 or greater. These students enter a unique academic stream within the University which gives them access to enrichment opportunities within their degrees, as well as to a network of talented peers through a themed event series. In addition to some specially designed subjects, Dalyell scholars have early access to advanced units of study, mentoring and professional skills development, and a global mobility scholarship should they choose to undertake international exchange during their course of study. The Dalyell Scholars Program was launched at an International Women’s Day event held at Women’s College in 2017 – a fitting venue given the program’s namesake, Elsie Dalyell, was a student at Women’s

PHOTO: Dr Elsie Dalyell. NSW State Archives

College in 1909. A highly distinguished University of Sydney medical graduate, Elsie Jean Dalyell OBE (1881–1948) was the first full-time female academic in the Sydney Medical School. After travelling to London on a University scholarship and then serving in World War I, she conducted pioneering work into childhood diseases with a medical team in Vienna, Austria. Of the one-hundred-strong fresher cohort at Women’s College in 2018, twenty-one students have been accepted into the Dalyell Scholars program. These students were recognised at the College’s annual Chancellor’s Dinner in April. Women’s College students in the Dalyell Scholars stream have also been invited into the College’s unique Scholars’ Program, run by Dean of College Natalie Smith.

DALYELL SCHOLARS

LEADERSHIP AND SCHOLARSHIP

Change FOR GOOD

2018 Senior Student Lucy McDonald sets out the course ahead in the wake of the Broderick Review into college culture, and celebrates the rebirth of the Langley wing.

In many ways this is a unique year to be a student at Women’s College: our beautiful new Sibyl Centre has been officially opened, the Langley wing has had a major makeover, and we are moving forward positively in the wake of the Broderick Review into college culture. For most Women’s College students, summer is bookended by the completion of exams and the beginning of lectures the following year. We tend to spend the summer break actively thinking about anything but university, except when our minds turn to College again and the prospect of styling our new rooms and having all our friends in one place again. The summer of 2017/18 was different. It was marked by the release of the Broderick Review just days after leaving College in 2017 and returning to the Red Zone Report being released a few days before our arrival in 2018. Intense discussions regarding college were happening in the media and amongst peers and the public at both ends of our summer vacation. We finished 2017 determined to make positive changes here at College. We actively engaged in the Broderick

review process. We were listened to. We had a voice. We embraced the recommendations and supported their implementation. Where Elizabeth Broderick made recommendations for change, she and her team also identified the wonderful strengths of our College. Our review includes the following statement: The Women’s College has a very proud and distinguished heritage of empowering young women attending the University of Sydney through education, community engagement and independent thinking … The reputation of the Women’s College and the impressive alumnae are not lost on current students, many of whom recognise the great legacy of those who have come before, and their own responsibility to carry on these positive College traditions, leaving it a better place for future students. While some have tried to tear down this very special place we call home, others have listened to our stories, seen the cracks, and honestly wanted to make the College a better, more inclusive and safe place for all. This started with our Council, our staff and our student leaders. CHANGE FOR GOOD

“Architecture has always been about beautiful places for scholars at our much loved institution of learning. Creative and aspirational. The very best for ‘our girls.’” Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

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We returned to College this year with an unprecedented level of uncertainty, but equally with a sense of expectation and excitement at the prospect of positive change. From altering selection dates for student leadership positions to ensuring opportunity is available to more students, to implementing year group discussions on a monthly basis so students can raise issues proactively with the House Committee, we have already begun to instigate change here at College. For most of us, our uppermost feelings on returning to College this year were optimistic: we felt very protective of College and a reinvigorated sense of belonging and pride. And there’s so much to be proud of with the opening of our beautiful new Sibyl Centre and the renovations to the Langley wing. The Women’s College Facebook page and Instagram have never been watched so eagerly by current students as we waited for the latest Langley

and Sibyl updates. The Langley girls are ecstatic with the new colour schemes in their corridors and rooms. Common rooms have had a makeover, lighting has been upgraded and the spaces seem somehow more intimate and welcoming. I’d like to extend a personal thanks on behalf of all of the students at Women’s College to our Principal Dr Amanda Bell for her dedication to the Langley Precinct project. The project began with Dr Bell and she has worked tirelessly to see it completed. Her attention to detail in the re-styling of Langley, the directions, shape and colour of the bricks in Sibyl shows how deeply she cares for the College and the girls. Sibyl is Dr Bell’s third major building project. There are few other women who have led this number of successful capital campaigns and Dr Bell’s hard work and passion will forever live on in Sibyl. LUCY McDONALD Senior Student 2018

PHOTOS: (Left, from top) 4th floor Langley wing, 1969 and 2018; (Above) New Langley Colonnade link to Sibyl Centre. PHOTO: Daisy Hingston

CHANGE FOR GOOD

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Achievements Alumnae and members of the Women’s College community receive recognition of their achievements. Principal Dr Amanda Bell received a Member in the Order of Australia Medal in June 2017 “ for significant service to education, particularly to young women as a leader and academic, and to the visual arts.” Professor Lynette Selwood [BEDFORD: 1964] was awarded an Officer in the Order of Australia “ for distinguished service to tertiary education in the field of reproductive biology as an academic, researcher and author, to the conservation of marsupial animals, and to the promotion of science.” Vice Chairman, Global Banking and Markets, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and former member of the Women’s College Council Richard Alcock [2014–2016] was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia “ for contribution to community through management of health institutions, higher education, governance and law.” Richard is Chair of the Western Sydney Local Health District board. Dr Sakuko Matsui [1961–71] received an acknowledgement in the 2018 Australia Day Honours list as an honorary member in the General Division for her significant service to education in the field of Japanese language, culture and literature, and through promoting Japan-Australia relations. Alumna architect Jocelyn Jackson [STEVENSON: 1968–70], Practice Director at Tanner Kibble Denton architects and a long-standing member of the College’s Building and Development Committee, won the Marion Mahony Griffin Prize in the NSW Australian Institute of Architects Awards for 2017. PHOTOS: (Clockwise from top left) Amanda Bell AM, Richard Alcock AO, Sakuko Matsui, Jocelyn Jackson, Annabelle Traves

The prize is awarded annually to acknowledge a female architect for a distinctive body of architectural work. Jocelyn’s work has spanned over forty years and has included all aspects of architecture – educational, commercial, community, adaptive reuse, residential and interiors. Architectural merits have been awarded to Langley Precinct Project architects m3architecture, who won a host of National and State Architecture Awards in the 2017 Australian Institute of Architects annual awards. These included the National Award for Public Architecture, Educational Architecture, and Residential Architecture, and commendations for Public and Sustainable Architecture. They also received three awards for Educational Architecture in the 2017 AIA Queensland Architecture Awards. 2011 Alumnae Community Award winner Pamela (Jill) Hodgson [BOWLER: 1961–65] has been made an honorary lay canon of St Saviour’s Cathedral Goulburn in recognition of her many years of rural ministry, and twenty years’ service to the local Diocesan Historical Society. Current student Annabelle Traves, in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium, was named concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra for 2018. A talented violinist, Annabelle’s contribution to the musical life of the College has been immense, including most recently her win in the highly prized Intercollegiate Palladian Solo Instrumental Competition. ACHIEVEMENTS

DAPHNE ELLIOTT AM

BSc Hons MSc PhD (DAVISON 1943–46) 6 September 2016

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aphne Elliott was educated at Picton Primary School and then at Presbyterian Ladies College in Croydon, Sydney, where she was captain of the school in her final year. Daphne was the first member of her extended family to attend university. She entered Women’s College in 1943, graduating from Sydney University with a Masters degree in the new field of biochemistry. At Women’s College Daphne held the Ellen Bundock Scholarship and was a member of the patriotic committee. In later life she acknowledged the importance of this time in giving her the opportunities that followed for her education. In 1948 Daphne won a science research scholarship to Cambridge and in 1951 she was one of the first women to be awarded a doctoral degree at that university. It was while studying at Cambridge that she met her English husband, Bill Elliott, who was at the time working towards his own PhD. From 1952 to 1955 Daphne held a Nuffield Research Fellowship in the Botany Department at Oxford University. She and Bill married in America while Bill was undertaking post-doctoral studies at Harvard. Daphne had her children during a period that was not particularly conducive to working mothers, especially in science. For a period of twelve years she remained at home and focused on her growing family. They lived first in England, and then in 1957 the family moved to Australia. Daphne returned to academic science in 1968 when she joined the School of Biological Sciences at Flinders University.

She remained at Flinders for the next twenty-three years, retiring as a senior lecturer in 1991 but remaining as Honorary Visiting Scholar from 1992. During her tenure at Flinders she was a member of numerous university committees and school board sub-committees, in addition to other voluntary work. Daphne was president of the Australian Federation of University Women and vice president and president of the Medical Sciences Club of South Australia. Her contributions to the education of women and girls in science and mathematics earned her the Chancellor’s Medal in 1994 and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2002. Daphne edited the first and second editions of Data for Biochemical Research and co-authored several other biochemistry textbooks with husband Bill, in addition to writing fifty original research papers and reviews in international scientific journals. In retirement she wrote a book about her late father, Captain Arthur Davison, who served at Gallipoli and in France in World War I. Despite ill health she was among the South Australian descendants of Gallipoli veterans who attended the 100th anniversary dawn service at Gallipoli. Daphne enjoyed gardening at her home in the Adelaide Hills. She and Bill renovated old houses at Yankalilla and at Pelican Lagoon on Kangaroo Island. Bill died in 2012 and Daphne is survived by children Jane, Michael and David and four grandchildren. Sources: Adelaide Advertiser 1 April 2017, Women’s College Biographical Register Vol 2, Dr Jane Elliott

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(ALISON) ADÈLE MILLERD BSc MSc PhD (1940–42) 3 December 2017

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dèle Millerd’s father was a headmaster and as a child she became accustomed to moving to different places. Her father was posted to Tocumwal when she was five, and later, in 1928, to Bellingen in northern NSW. Her memories of her childhood were acute and she credited this period to the awakening of her interest in science. After another family move, Adèle attended high school in Cessnock at a time when the mining industry in the area was in turmoil, with strikes and unemployment rife. She described her performance in school as “chequered”: she hated sewing classes, enjoyed hockey and swimming, and spent her spare time trying chemistry experiments in the kitchen at home. In her high school summer holidays before her final year, Adèle’s father took her to visit Sydney University; it was during this visit that she saw the Chemistry building, including a laboratory. This fueled her desire to do a science degree, which she began in 1940, just after the Second World War broke out. She was awarded an exhibition scholarship and entered Women’s College as a fresher. “For an only child to suddenly live with companions was magical” she wrote in later life. Ten other students in her fresher year were pursuing science, and with many of them not having studied chemistry previously, Adèle took on the mantle of tutor to her peers. In second year she discovered biochemistry, which was to become her lifelong passion. Adèle’s first job was in the laboratory at Riverstone Meatworks. She quickly realised that industry was not for her and moved to a private pathology practice in Macquarie Street, run by early Sydney University medical graduate, Dr Marjorie Little. At the end of

the war Adèle returned to Sydney University, where she began work as a teaching fellow in Biochemistry and enrolled in a master’s degree, eventually turning her specialty to plant biochemistry. She was awarded a Linnean Macleay fellowship, and then a Fulbright in 1950 to undertake PhD research at Caltech (the California Institute of Technology). Not only was she one of the first female Fulbright scholars in Australia, she was also the only female student in the Caltech graduate school, working in plant physiology. It was during this period of her life that Adèle met many of her later scientific collaborators, including several with Nobel prize credits. Her thesis on “Respiratory Oxidation and the Energy Transfer by Plant Systems” was ground breaking. Adèle returned to Sydney in 1953 where she was appointed Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at Sydney University: only its second female faculty member. After a number of years she took a position at the Waite Institute in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Adelaide, continuing her research on plant respiration before joining the plant Physiology Department at CSIRO in Canberra in 1963, where she remained for the rest of her career. During this part of her life she spent regular time abroad on study leave and attending scientific conferences and meetings, and published papers on maize mutants and storage proteins in legume seeds: early work that influenced the burgeoning field of food production in Australia and internationally. A lover of travel and a self-confessed ski devotee, Adèle retired in 1982 after a long and distinguished career in science. Source: Adèle’s story, written to celebrate her 90th birthday in 2011. With thanks to Peter Berman.

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MARY NEWLINDS OAM MBBS (CAMPBELL 1949–53) 3 March 2018

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ary Campbell was born in 1929 in Rose Bay to Evelyn (nee Rennie) and David Campbell, a wool buyer with an interest in political and social questions. Mary’s early memories of Rose Bay included watching flying boats land on the harbour and rowing out to Shark Island with her father. A family move to the upper north shore in 1940 gave her the space and scope to explore one of her life’s most abiding interests, a deep and profound love of horses. She shone academically at Abbotsleigh and enjoyed her role as a defender on the school hockey team. Her hero as a teenager was the first female Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie. She enrolled in veterinary science at Sydney University in 1947. A setback with a first year physics exam – in part due to it not being taught in all girls’ schools at the time – meant a change of course to medicine. At The Women’s College she thrived as senior student. In her final year in 1953, her secretary was an up-and-coming medical student named Marie Bashir. Mary ventured to Britain in 1956 and worked at Newcastle upon Tyne and then Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. On taking up the job of paediatric registrar at Crown Street Hospital in Sydney in 1959, she met her husband – the then medical superintendent Dr John Newlinds. Upon returning from England in 1964, the couple moved to a five-acre block in Duffys Forest and didn’t move out of the postcode again. Mary ran her general practice from her surgery at home. Mary liked the medical profession but was never defined by it or her status as a doctor. From the 1950s, debate regarding an additional airport for the greater Sydney

region had been centred on a hundred acres of stateowned Crown land amid the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The site was bordered by the semirural and sparsely populated suburb of Duffys Forest. Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, having initially gained council approval for the project, the pro-airport lobby seemed close to their goal. What they had not counted on was a group formed in mid-1971 called ‘Stop the Duffys Forest Airport Committee’, the driving force of which was Mary Newlinds. Mary saw the airport proposal as an affront to the tranquillity and beauty of Ku-ring-gai Chase, the preservation of which to her was non-negotiable. The anti-airport campaign involved bumper stickers and rowdy town hall meetings but was more characterised by systematic letter writing and unrelenting arguments – one of which was that the proposed development was a Trojan horse for a second domestic terminal. Try as it might, the pro-airport lobby simply couldn’t match the energy, determination and intellect of Mary’s kitchen table committee. The federal minister for civil aviation put an end to the airport proposal in December 1971 but a further battle, to ensure the land in question was made part of the national park, continued until 1978. It’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that the campaign established a benchmark for similar community activism in and around the city through the 1970s and beyond. Mary’s approach to this cause was typical and illustrative of a life lived to high standards and of an intellect and spirit that was indefatigable. In 2002, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her dedication to conservation. Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 20 March 2018, courtesy Peter Newlinds

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CORALIE PEDDIE

BSc PhD (ARMSTRONG 1962–65) 19 August 2017

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riendships forged in the dining hall at Women’s College stand the test of time. And the calm, creative country girl from Callubri in central western New South Wales made many friends in her time at College (1962–65). She was a good listener with a great memory, a willing companion with interests in art, music, science and natural history, who never had a bad word to say about anyone. When Coralie Armstrong met Sue Russell at Women’s College she found a kindred spirit and the two became firm friends. They went on to flat together in Mosman and when Sue moved overseas to Papua New Guinea with her husband John Copland, Coralie visited and painted his portrait. A talented artist, Coralie went on to win awards and accolades for both portraits and landscapes, having taken evening classes in the late 60s under Allan Hanson and Fred Bates at the Royal Art Society of NSW and then in London, after work at Hammersmith Hospital (1968–69). She had studied science at the University of Sydney and returned to Australia for a PhD in microbiology at the University of NSW. It was there she met her future husband Frank Peddie and the two were married in 1975. They moved to Adelaide with two young children in 1981 when Frank accepted a job as a lecturer in microbiology at the Institute of Technology, which went on to become the University of South Australia. Coralie loved her home in the hills, twenty acres with sheep at Inglewood. It was a long way from the 20,000

acre sheep station at Callubri, but it was a good place to raise children and a fine place from which to paint. Her work often reflected her love of the environment and interest in science. For example, a painting of the Bogan River saw her named as a finalist in the 1973 Wynne Prize and a watercolour of Ediacaran fossils won the works on paper section of the 2006 Waterhouse Natural History Art Competition. She exhibited at the Royal Art Society NSW in 1972 and 1990, and Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney in 1976 as well as many galleries in South Australia. She was a Fellow of the Royal Art Society of NSW, a Fellow and Honorary Life Member of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts, a founding member of the South Australian Watercolour Society, member of the prestigious Australian Watercolour Institute since 1973, and member of the Portrait Artists of Australia. Her works have been published in several books on watercolour painting. A published family history “Irish Enough for Sure” won the 1998 Alexander Henderson Award. In her later years she also developed an interest in fossils as a volunteer at the South Australian Museum. She is to have a fossil named in her honour. Next time you dine in the College dining hall with a friend, you might also find yourself sitting in the chair that takes her name at the Russell-Copland Table. Coralie is survived by her husband Frank, her children Clare and Roly, and five grandchildren. Source: Clare Peddie

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“We find ourselves in the personification of the Sibyl. A truly beautiful expression of all that has inspired the College’s past, that embraces the imagination of women now and into the future.” Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

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PHOTO: Marinco Kodjanovski

HONOURING OUR HERITAGE

THE SIBYL CENTRE OPENING

PHOTOS: (clockwise from top left) Principals Yvonne Rate AM (2003–08), Ann Eyland (1990–96), Jane Williamson (2008–13), Quentin Bryce AD CVO (1997–2003), Amanda Bell AM (2013–); Dr Tiffany Donnelly and Dr Paul Donnelly; Sandra Nash (1968–71); Leo Tutt OAM and Heather Tutt; Clare Maple-Brown (1997–2000) and Jemima Kalos (NEALE: 1998–2000).

THE SIBYL CENTRE OPENING

“It is inspiring to collaborate with an architect who first and foremost sought to understand the history and ambition of the Women’s College profoundly as a first principle. To respect and enhance the existing environment and focus on the possibilities.” Dr Amanda Bell AM

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PHOTO: The Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO, Dr Amanda Bell AM, and staff of m3 architecture with lead architect Michael Banney at far left.

PHOTOS: (clockwise from top left) The Sibyl Centre; Elizabeth MacDiarmid (STUART: 1985–87) and Justice Jane Mathews AO (1958–59); Chair of Council Julie McKay, Principal Dr Amanda Bell AM, The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO and Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson AM; The Song for Sibyl in performance; composer Amy Bastow (2004–07).

THE SIBYL CENTRE OPENING

“This is The Women’s College. Contemporary. Resolved in its relevance and strength of place within this University, this city and this country.” Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

PHOTO: Paul Donnelly

THE WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S COLLEGE 15 Carillon Avenue University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia www.thewomenscollege.com.au

“Women’s College keeps traditions, while at the same time being thoroughly contemporary and modern in a fast-paced, changing world.” AD CVO

on the opening of the Sibyl Centre – 22 March 2018