Photo left: Eva Rummery and her mother Maria Rummery admire exhibits in the newly revamped UNE Antiquities Museum. Credit: Kathleen Murphy.
Throughout 2024, UNE's 70th anniversary year, we acted on a commitment to reconnect with our alumni. As a result, we heard many stories from the people who have passed through our regional university, from 1954 onwards.
Our alumni, old and young, told us that this university changes lives. They said that it doesn't matter where you start from: you can ask UNE to help, and UNE will respond. Many of our alumni come from atypical backgrounds for university students, but once UNE had equipped them with qualifications and confidence, they went on to make great contributions to our society.
This magnificent legacy is on our minds now, as UNE embarks on a new strategic planning process to identify how we continue the work of the past 70 years in a changed and unpredictable operating environment.
For some years now, funding of UNE has been inadequate to cover the cost of the work we do – let alone allow the university to reinvest in future capacity-building.
We recognise this moment as a make-or-break point for UNE. To put it in the starkest terms: if we project current financial and political realities into the 2030s, there is no UNE.
The planning now underway is about ensuring this projection is not destiny. UNE has to chart a new course of financial selfdetermination that allows us to be the university we need to be, with the freedom to make the choices we need to make.
Along with this resolve to lessen reliance on a tightening public purse, the planning process is guided by two other principles: that UNE must be unconventional, as UNE's founders intended, and that we are dedicated to supporting regional communities, here and everywhere.
When the planning is done, these principles will have been mapped to actions and outcomes. At that point, we will be looking for whatever help we can rally to ensure the greatest possible chance of success.
This will be a watershed year for this university. We hope that, with your support, it will mark a point in which UNE once again rewrites the rules of higher education so it can continue to transform aspiration into rewarding, influential lives.
Chancellor Dr Sarah Pearson and UNE Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Moran
Chris Moran
Photo: UNE Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Moran and Chancellor Dr Sarah Pearson. Credit: Matthew Cawood.
Our sincere thanks
During the reporting period, 392 donors generously gave $1,946,213 in support of a range of UNE projects, scholarships, research initiatives and student welfare. This included bequests totalling $51,083 and UNE’s largest gift for the year, of $400,000
Eighty-two new donors donated $563,580, of which $411,040 went towards scholarships, $81,440 to other projects and $71,100 to new research projects.
2024 was an outstanding year for new scholarships at UNE. Gifts to UNE scholarships supported a record 235 undergraduate and postgraduate students, who received a total of $1.2 million. This figure represents a 7.5% increase on 2023.
A generous donor also provided $102,000 for medicine and nursing bursaries to cover compulsory placement costs for 36 students Donors also funded $97,000 in Student Support Bursaries, which provided up to $2,000 per student in emergency funding.
UNE’s Student Emergency Assistance Fund provides practical assistance of up to $1,000 for a student in urgent need. In 2024, UNE assisted 14 students to the tune of $13,369. The most common requests for funds were to either replace or repair a computer, emergency medical expenses, or help with the travel and accommodation costs associated with intensive schools or placements.
Championing future leaders
A landmark scholarship will deliver assistance of the highest order.
The first UNE recipient of a prestigious Order of Australia Association Foundation (OAAF) scholarship, Jennifer Corderoy, was on the family tractor when she received news of her success and says it will “open up a whole new world”.
The lucrative two-year scholarship provides a financial lifeline and mentoring by a member of the Order of Australia to help guide her career. Jennifer has been matched with her patron, Australian philanthropist and pastoralist Tim Fairfax AC. Order of Australia Association Foundation Chair, Dr Helen Nugent AC, thanked UNE for its involvement in the rigorous selection process and acknowledged the “wonderful support” of the five donors who provided scholarships in 2025.
Their generosity brings to 60 the number of scholarships that the foundation has awarded nationally since 2004.
Tim, who has a property in the New England, requested his scholarship go to an agriculture student.
“I’m a great believer in rural and regional Australia and also a great believer in helping others to reach their potential, beyond their financial circumstances,” Tim said. “Agriculture is where I started out in life and it’s very dear to my heart. I hope the scholarship helps to inspire Jennifer to return to rural and regional areas as a future leader.
“I am extremely humbled that Jennifer asked me to mentor her. The wonderful part about mentoring is that there are learnings that flow both ways.”
Each of the OAAF scholarship recipients is recognised for being exceptional in their field of study and for giving back to their community. “They are the Australian leaders of tomorrow,” said Dr Nugent. “Individuals who dare to dream big about what they can contribute to the future of our nation.”
A Bachelor of Rural Science student at UNE and keen rugby player, Jennifer has actively pursued industry experience and advocated for agriculture, contributed to her former St Albert’s College community, carried out church ministry work and served as a UNE academic advisor and
student representative.
“All the opportunities I have taken have allowed me to gain more knowledge and experience so that I can be more confident and productive in my career. I have chosen ventures that interest me, develop my skillset, and address community needs rather than just earn an income,” Jennifer said.
Having grown up on her family’s mixed cropping and cattle property at Narromine, in central western NSW, Jennifer is keen to work in crop research and extension in future.
“I am passionate about agricultural land stewardship, resource efficiency and introducing farmers to improved crop varieties, management practices and production technologies,” she said.
Photo: Jennifer Corderoy with Governor-General, Her Excellency, the Hon. Sam Mostyn AC after Jennifer’s announcement as one of five new Order of Australia Association Foundation scholars at Admiralty House in November 2024.
Photo: Jennifer helping with the harvest on the family farm in central western NSW.
“I would like to be on the ground helping them to filter and implement what’s most beneficial for their system.”
However, independently funding her studies comes with consider-
able travel and accommodation costs. She has tended to study during trimesters one and two, and to devote trimester three to the practical work experience component of her course.
“I have completed two summers of work experience with Cotton Seed Distributors; helping run field trials for new cotton varieties, test new technologies and implement best-practice across different production systems. I’m looking forward to working with Crown Analytical Services and Australian Grain Technologies later in the year.
“The OAAF scholarship will support me to receive a first-class education at UNE and thrive in my early career. It will allow me to reinvest time once spent working into my studies, to ensure I capitalise on my passion for agricultural industries and my communities.”
While the financial side of the scholarship is undoubtedly welcome, especially as Jennifer plans to undertake Honours research, she is also appreciative of the mentorship and donor support it includes. “I am excited to work with Mr Fairfax in aligning my career path with industry and community needs, recognising and applying my strengths, and maintaining a character of integrity, humility and generosity.”
Dr Nugent said the benefits of the OAAF scholarships are enduring. “Mentors have experience in the awardee’s field of interest and provide both career and life advice,” she said.
“Some of these mentorships persist long, long after the period of the scholarship. Awardees say it is life-changing.”
For more information on the OAAF scholarships, go to https://oaafoundation.org. au/foundation-scholarshipbrochure
Photo: Australian philanthropist, pastoralist and mentor Tim Fairfax AC. Credit: Russell Shakespeare.
The legacy of teaching excellence
Long after their deaths, two men are endowing UNE English scholars with exciting new opportunities.
An individual teacher can have a profound influence, their impact echoing down the decades and generations.
The late English lecturer Dr David Evans – a UNE graduate, respected educator, mentor, artist and Chaucer devotee –was one such teacher.
After completing his Arts degree (with First Class Honours in English) at UNE in the 1950s, David achieved a Diploma of Education and taught for several years. He then joined UNE’s English Department, carving out an esteemed career as an English language scholar and teacher that stretched for 32 years, until his retirement in 1994.
Former colleagues recall a wickedly funny ‘Renaissance man’ with a passion and talent for an eclectic range of pursuits, who “devoted his life to enriching the lives of others” and providing friendship to countless overseas students. An artist, David also became a driving force behind the establishment of the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) in Armidale.
It was during the 1960s that David crossed paths with an external Bachelor of Arts student named Clive Ellison and made a lasting impression. Clive would graduate in 1969, noting that “in addition to the continuing pleasure and insight” his Arts degree afforded him, it helped him gain promotions to principal positions.
Little is known of Clive or his wife Joan, a fellow teacher. Education Department records reveal they married in 1954, after Clive had completed a Teaching Certificate in Sydney. He undertook his UNE studies while teaching at Yeoval Central School (from 1955-1973) and was the Founding Principal of Urambi Primary School in the ACT, where he worked from 1976 until retiring in 1983.
Now, Clive and Joan’s generosity will reverberate throughout
UNE’s English Department, inspired by the teachings of David and his contemporaries. Writing in February 1984 to bequeath half his “modest” estate to that department, Clive said “… I really enjoyed my courses and appreciated the thought and care of the lecturers, particularly David Evans … who was very encouraging”. In his mid-50s at the time, Clive recognised “it could be some time” before the estate became available and by that time it “may be worth considerably more”.
Clive died in 2007 – the same year as David – but it was not until after his widow Joan’s death in 2020 that the full depth of Clive’s appreciation became apparent, when the UNE
Photo: David Evans during his teaching career at UNE, in 1993.
Photo: Clive Ellison, during his teaching days in the ACT.
Photo: David Evans, graduating in 1968 from UNE with a PhD.
Foundation received $854,230 from Joan’s estate.
It will now be used to promote study and scholarship in English at UNE, starting with the first Clive and Joan Ellison Scholarships in English Literature.
It came as an “extraordinarily generous surprise” to UNE’s Associate Professor in English Literary Studies, Dr Elizabeth Hale, who, with her colleagues, is also considering additional prizes and perhaps an annual conference to honour the Ellisons.
“Clive obviously loved literature,” Elizabeth said. “There were a number of inspirational teachers here at that time. David Evans, a lecturer in medieval and Anglo Saxon, was out of the ordinary and must have had a strong influence.
“We are extremely grateful to Mr Ellison and his wife for supporting English at UNE and giving us the resources to encourage passionate students who might not otherwise have access to this kind of study.
Many of our students are future teachers themselves and Clive’s reflections on his UNE study are heart-warming.”
Lecturer in Literary Studies, Associate Professor Diana Barnes, said the study of literature gives teachers “a window into life itself”.
“It gives us an opportunity to reflect on our values and ideals and how they have shifted over time,” Diana said. “UNE still offers a broad suite of English units spanning a 500-year period. They illustrate the eternal human struggle with essential questions of love, death, politics and what it means to be part of a community, which are timeless. This is a wonderful gift, that will ensure UNE’s proud English traditions continue.”
David’s widow Helen said he had a passion for teaching English and would consider it “very special” that a student remembered him so fondly.
“David was very committed to all his students, particularly those studying externally,” she said. “Many were mature students from diverse backgrounds, who had a genuine interest in the subject matter.
“Because David and Clive were studying at the same
time – David for his PhD –I think they would have had much in common and would likely have had many discussions. Clive and Joan’s amazing gift shows how important and lasting our teaching can be, reaching across generations.”
For guidance on how to leave a gift in your will to UNE, go to www.une.edu.au/give-to-une/ bequests or email advance@ une.edu.au
Photo: Associate Professor in English Literary Studies at UNE, Dr Elizabeth Hale, in front of a bookcase containing theses generated by UNE students in the Humanities disciplines. Credit: Matthew Cawood.
Photo: Clive Ellison's original, hand-typed bequest offer to UNE.
Focus on new breakthroughs
Research at UNE into a range of medical conditions has been bolstered by the acquisition of a cutting-edge microscope.
The super-resolution confocal microscope newly installed in the McClymont Building has been financed by a $150,000 Ian Potter Foundation grant and support from the Office of Engagement and UNE Foundation. It will allow improved imaging of tissue samples to help identify disease changes at the sub-cellular level and support better treatments.
Confocal microscopy uses laser rather than light technology to collect a series of thin optical sections to compose detailed, three-dimensional images.
“This produces sharper images with higher resolution than widefield microscopy,” said Dr Kirstan Vessey, a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Neuroscience at UNE’s School of Science and Technology. “The technology is the best on the market and will allow UNE researchers and our community partners to better understand disease mechanisms and the efficacy of treatments, improving our research capability and the prospect of making scientific breakthroughs.
“Regardless of the disease, we are now able to see the details
of cell changes and cell metabolism, and this is critically important in determining whether treatments are working.”
Dr Vessey’s own research into how we might slow retinal degeneration in inherited disease and age-related macular degeneration as well as other neurodegenerative diseases will be enhanced.
“I’m trying to understand the processes involved in the death of retinal neurons, so we can find treatments to slow that process down,” she said.
Photo: Associate Professor Adam Hamlin, Dr Kirstan Vessey and Dr Nitin Chitranshi with UNE's new cutting-edge confocal microscope.
Credit: Matthew Cawood.
The technology is the best on the market and will allow UNE researchers and our community partners to better understand disease mechanisms and the efficacy of treatments ...
“One of the factors implicated in ageing and many neurodegenerative diseases is the failure to process wastes at the intracellular level. The confocal microscope will help me to explore these mechanisms and to look inside cells to determine which drugs may help to remove wastes.”
Such precision imaging will be a great advantage to UNE colleague Associate Professor Adam Hamlin, who has two major research projects underway to advance treatments for neurological conditions. The first is investigating the relationship between Type 2 diabetes and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
“We have developed a mouse model of Type 2 diabetes and will use the microscope to examine tissue samples to detect classic early hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease,” he said. “This will help us to better understand how Type 2 diabetes leads to degeneration in the brain, which can then lead to cognitive changes and dementia. Only then can we start to consider early detection of Alzheimer’s, which is so important.
“Our second project relates to Sydenham Chorea, a disease of unwanted movements affecting some people after a streptococcal infection. Those affected are mostly from low-income countries or socio-economically disadvantaged populations, including the First Nations peoples of Australia. We need to understand how antibodies produced to fight the infection get into the brain and, using the confocal microscope, see which proteins
the antibodies are interacting with to cause the disease.”
Dr Nitin Chitranshi is also eager to use the microscope to better understand the mechanisms for irreversible vision loss seen in glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis patients. He is using the human eye as a model for studying changes in the brain at the cellular level.
“I am investigating if retinal and optic nerve changes in the eye could be a predictor of brain changes associated with these conditions. The microscope will enable me to closely examine degeneration and explore potential gene therapy strategies to mitigate its progression,” Dr Chitranshi said.
At least seven biomedical research groups in the School of Science and Technology and two Environment and Rural Science groups at UNE have expressed interest in using the equipment,
which is just as useful to the study of cellular processes in animals. Among them are researchers exploring gut health and looking to develop a vaccine to control scour worms in livestock, as well as botanists working on pollen.
The instrument will also be available to external and local collaborators at the CSIRO and the Department of Primary Industries via an online booking system.
“It will become a regional resource with wide applications for a variety of scientists and save us considerable travelling time to use similar metropolitan-based microscopes,” Dr Vessey said.
Associate Professor Hamlin said research has been hampered without a confocal microscope.
“It’s a very valuable tool for a research institute and we hope it will enable us to make advances faster,” he said.
To discover how you can support research at UNE, contact advance@une.edu.au
Image: A cross-section of a rodent's brain, as seen through the confocal microscope, showing the dopamine cells that die in human Parkinson's patients in green. The red denotes a novel neurotransmitter marker, whose function in disease processes remains unclear. This work by Dr. Vessey suggests we might want to consider the use of agents that target this novel system in diseases like Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Credit: Kirstan Vessey.
Generous input into global insights
A UNE Foundation lifeline opens up international possibilities.
In today’s global agribusiness world, international experiences are invaluable. Understanding markets, innovative practices and potential export customers can unlock opportunities – both professional and personal.
So, when a declining Australian dollar threatened UNE’s International Agribusiness Study Tour to the United States last year, Associate Professor Stuart Mounter took an unusual step. He reached out to the UNE Foundation for support.
“Without a subsidy, we knew some of the students would have been unable to afford it,” said Stuart’s colleague Derek Baker, a Professor of Agribusiness and Value Chains, who led the tour.
Like Archie Triggs and Jordan Green.
“The American dollar was not in our favour,” said Archie, a Bachelor of Agriculture student. “Many of us were on the fence and seriously considering whether we could go.”
It certainly would have been tight for Jordan, a final-year Animal Science student who “runs around the countryside driving headers” to help pay her way through university.
The subsidy the UNE Foundation generously provided – $1,400 to each of the 28 participating students – was a game-changer.
“It gave me some breathing room and meant I didn’t have to take extra contracting shifts to
finance the tour,” Jordan said.
“It was a costly trip (at $8,500), but a trip of a lifetime – I was keen to see how international business is conducted and what we can do in Australia to operate more efficiently.”
As part of the action-packed, 17-day itinerary, students flew to California, then Wyoming and Texas to make 38 farm visits, meeting producers large and small using vastly different production systems.
“On day one we visited the world’s biggest producer of carrots and largest producer of organic vegetables in the US (Grimway Farms),” Derek said.
“The second day we saw a family business growing 67 different tropical fruits and selling them
through farmers’ markets up and down the south coast of California.
“Our students got to experience two fundamentally different operations – one family-run and the other a commodity business – which is great for thinking about how they are going to pursue agribusiness in their own career.”
The agricultural diversity students were exposed to included livestock and horticulture enterprises, processors, water management facilities, scientific research centres, training centres and even machinery dealerships. Catching up socially with students from the University of Wyoming added yet another dimension.
“We try to look at the big issues of the day and demonstrate how other countries approach them and develop potential solutions,” said Derek. “It gives our students a broader and more realistic definition of what agribusiness is and what people in agribusiness do. In Texas we even visited a television station that broadcasts on agriculture 24 hours a day.”
It was Jordan’s first overseas trip and a chance to gain insights that might guide her future endeavours.
“I have a little beef Brahman herd I am building on my parents’ property near Bonalbo and I would eventually like to set up my own reproductive business,” she said. “To see people altitude testing bulls at Wyoming University was eye-opening, and what they were doing in terms of herd efficiency and reproductive health was amazing. The trip was a great opportunity to discover
what the big fellas are doing on the other side of the world, and what we saw was priceless.”
From cherry and citrus farms to bison ranches, almond orchards and large-scale food processing plants, Archie said each different state, crop and business offered something new.
“We got to talk to farmers firsthand, who were happy to share their knowledge,” he said. “One of the biggest things I took away were the different perspectives –seeing what we have in common and what we don’t, and what’s possible. It’s an experience you could never repeat.”
Photo left page: UNE students tour the research farm at the University of Wyoming, which included pig-raising. Credit: Georgia Ditchfield.
Photo above: Students Annabelle Fox, Emily Conradt and Molly Davidson learn how cattle are farmed at King Ranch, east of Cheyenne. Credit: Georgia Ditchfield.
Photo below: Erin Stevens, Jordan Green and Hannah Kirkwood at King Ranch.
I was very grateful the UNE Foundation stepped in to help us.
So inspired were Archie and fellow tourers Ed Graham and Will Walker that they have since travelled to Canada to work –to “see how they do it in another country and get some more first-hand experience”. Then Archie intends pursuing a career in agronomy back home in the Riverina.
“It was an eye-opener to see how lucky we are in Australia –the infrastructure and technology we have already implemented,” he said. “But we also saw things we could adapt for the Australian environment, too.”
Students taking part in previous agribusiness study tours have similarly gone on to travel and work abroad. “These tours open doors and demonstrate the careers that are possible in agribusiness; they show what skillsets are useful and that there
are people out there doing really cool, entrepreneurial things, developing new technologies and making money,” Derek said. “It has a huge positive effect.
“I was very grateful the UNE Foundation stepped in to help us. Otherwise, the cost would have been too much for some
students, and it relieved others of some financial pressure.”
For more information on how you can extend the educational opportunities available to UNE students, contact advance@une.edu.au
Photo top: A rodeo practice arena at the University of Wyoming impressed Georgia Ditchfield, Myles Wellman, Charlotte Menzies, Georgia Dawes, Daisy Gilbertson and Dylan Piper-Bye. Photo bottom: Will Walker and Archie Triggs watch almonds roll off the conveyor belt at one of the largest factories of its kind in California. Credit: Tony Ramsay.
A trip down memory lane
One family's UNE legacy paves the way for other students.
Adding his family’s pavers to UNE’s Graduates’ Walk was a welcome trip down memory lane for Richard Hodgson.
In what is a true family affair, Richard memorialised not only his own UNE studies – a Bachelor of Economics and Diploma of Education from the 1970s – but also those of his mother Joyce and late wife Janine.
“I was the first to go to UNE, from 1972-76, and lived in Earle Page College. I met Janine there in 1976 at a rugby match at Bellevue Oval,” Richard recalls. “Janine graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education – the same year we were married.
“At my graduation, I joked that my mother should also do a degree at UNE, and she promptly did – a Bachelor of Arts externally. She was living on our family farm near Woodenbong and did one unit a term, starting in 1976 and finally graduating in 1984, at the age of 65. She had left school at the Intermediate level, so the study was for her personal pleasure and intellectual stimulation.”
Keeping it all in the family, Richard’s nephew David Shannon also graduated from UNE with a Bachelor of Economics, and David’s future wife Rosemary (née Murray) also earned an Arts degree and Diploma of Education.
Subsequently, Richard and Janine’s eldest daughter Ruth (now Bartlett-Taylor) studied languages at UNE and it was here that she also met her future husband, Tim. Their own pavers will be installed once Tim completes his Master of Education, adding to the Bachelor of Education (Primary) he already has under his belt. Both now work at UNE.
Finally, Richard’s younger daughter Claire recently married Nathan Banks, who studied Zoology at UNE, and Claire and Ruth’s cousin Joanne McMaster is also a UNE alumna.
“I’m thrilled that our names will be there forever at UNE on the pavers,” Richard said. “I have had a lot to do with UNE over the years (Janine also worked in the HR Department for many years) and hope this small gift will help current and future students.”
Purchasing a paver on our Graduates’ Walk makes a tax-deductible gift to the UNE Scholarship Fund. To leave your mark, contact alumni@une.edu.au
Photo left: Richard Hodgson and his family's pavers. Credit: Matthew Cawood. Photo below: Ruth (now Bartlett-Taylor), her grandmother Joyce and mother Janine celebrate Ruth's graduation with a Bachelor of Languages from UNE in 2007. GRADUATES’
UNE scholarships
Aboriginal Scholarship in Creative Arts Education
Brittany Abraham Memorial Scholarship
Armajun Aboriginal Health Service Scholarship - Nursing
Armidale Blues Rugby ScholarshipDuval and Austin colleges
Armidale International Association Scholarship
Aurora Dairies Scholarship
Yvonne Austen Scholarship in Agriculture
Valda Kathleen Bauman Memorial Scholarship
JH Bishop Postgraduate Scholarship
Wesley Blackert Scholarship for Online Students
Bernard Coffey Country Scholarship
Costa Exchange Pty Ltd (Berry Category) Scholarship in Horticulture
Country Women's Association of NSW Centenary Scholarship
Duncan Family Scholarship in Early Childhood Education
Duncan Family Scholarship in Pharmacy
Clive and Joan Ellison Scholarship in English Literature
Keith Entwistle Honours Scholarship
Keith Entwistle Scholarship
Essential Energy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship
Bert Evans Travel Bursary
Mary Evelyn Field Scholarship
Betty J Fyffe Scholarship - Medicine
Betty J Fyffe Scholarship - Nursing
Graduate Certificate in School Psychology Scholarship
Graduate Legacy Scholarship
Dr Peter Hemphill Travelling Scholarship
Hyson Jones Rural Medical Scholarship
Indigenous Master of Psychology Scholarship
Ethan Kotarac Memorial Scholarship
Lembas Foundation Country Scholarship
FJ Letters Bursary
Keith and Dorothy Mackay Honours Scholarship
Keith and Dorothy Mackay Travelling Scholarship
AC and IG McCready PhD Scholarship for Classical Antiquities
Andrew McCue Memorial Scholarship
William McIlrath Rural Scholarship
DL McMaster Fund Endowed Housing Scholarship
Mildred & Betty Scholarship
John and Pauline Moorhead Scholarship
Sally Muir Agricultural Postgraduate Award
Vincent Murphy Planning Scholarship
AS Nivison Memorial Scholarship
NSW DPHI Aboriginal Planning Scholarship
Nutrien Harvesting the Future Scholarship
Oorala Indigenous Accommodation Scholarship
Oorala Kick Start Scholarship
Oorala Wellbeing Scholarship
Order of Australia Association Foundation Scholarship
Jean M Oxley Memorial Scholarship
Earle Page Anniversary Fellows Scholarship
Peel Health Care Scholarship - Medicine
Peel Health Care Scholarship - Nursing
Christine Perrott Achievement Scholarship for Women
David Phillipps Memorial Scholarship
Patricia Phillips Memorial Scholarship - Medicine
Professor John Pigram Memorial Scholarship
Jim Poulos KC Scholarship
Pursehouse Rural Scholarship
Quota Club of Armidale Scholarship
Edwina Ridgway Scholarship - Duval College
Robb College Foundation Darren Ellis Fund Scholarship
Robb College Foundation Irvine Scholarship
Robb College Foundation Leadership Scholarship
Robb College Foundation Meredith Scholarship
Robb College Sinclair-Wilson Scholarship
Robb College Foundation Sports Leader Scholarship
Robb College Foundation Wal and Pam Whalley
Senior Fellows Scholarship
John Roberts Earth Sciences Scholarship
Pat and Rob Robertson-Cuninghame Honours Scholarship
Ella Schroder Indigenous Residential Scholarship
Max Schroder Indigenous Mentoring Scholarship
Max Schroder Indigenous Scholarship
South Australian Chapter of the UNE Alumni Award
Cec Spence Memorial UNE Country Scholarship
Don and Lee Stammer Scholarship
Bill and Michelle Stewart Postgraduate Scholarship - ERS
Bill and Michelle Stewart Postgraduate Scholarship - Music
Robin Stokes Honours Scholarship in Science
UNE Student Support Bursary
Support Fund for Students with a Disability Tamex Transport Scholarship
Alan Treloar Postgraduate Classics Philology Scholarship
UNE Alumni Scholarship
UNE Chamber Ensemble Scholarship
UNE Elite Athlete Scholarship
UNE Foundation Country Masters Scholarship
UNE Foundation Flood Scholarship
UNE Foundation High Achievement Scholarship
UNE Foundation Online Student Textbook Bursary
UNE Foundation Residential College Country Scholarship
UNE Foundation Sole Parents and Carers Country Scholarship
UNE Foundation Tamworth Scholarship
UNE Foundation Technology Bursary
UNE Head Start Scholarship for Ezidi Students
UNE Indigenous Medical Scholarship
UNE Life Scholarship
UNE Student Council Scholarship
Warakirri Cropping Scholarship
Frederick G White Bursary
Wright College Scholarship
Wright Honours Scholarship
Mine of inspiration
A lifelong learner pays it forward.
Ina Waters had every good reason to encourage her young son John to excel at school, growing up as he did amid the coal mines of Newcastle, NSW. Her grandfather had been maimed and her father killed in mining accidents and that was not the fate she wished for her clever child.
“Dad was born in 1936 and
Newcastle Boys’ High, then an apprenticeship, followed by an electrical engineering university qualification. He would go on to complete another four tertiary degrees in his lifetime – and inspire his own family to achieve academically – before his death, at the age of 86, in 2023. One of those qualifications was a Master of Letters from UNE, in 1987.
grew up in a very average working-class family,” says his daughter Lesley Waters. “My grandmother’s family were all miners, and the story goes that she wanted Dad to get a job in the office of the mine, to avoid any risk of losing him, too. It was a narrow view of the world that was available to my grandmother.”
But John would exceed all his mother’s expectations. First, being accepted into selective
“That was the fourth of his degrees from four different institutions, culminating in a PhD from Western Sydney University in 2005, at the age of 69,” Lesley says. “Five degrees would be a remarkable achievement for anyone, but for a man whose father was a timber cutter and whose mother came from that long line of coal miners it was particularly impressive.
“Dad truly believed in the power of education to create
opportunities – to read, to learn, to target and reach goals, to make friends and to improve awareness of himself and the world. He enjoyed academic life and loved a graduation ceremony.”
Having encouraged his daughters and grandchildren to pursue university studies, and supporting them enthusiastically along the way, there would be quite a few
ceremonies for John to attend in the intervening years.
“Between us we have completed a further 12 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees,” Lesley says. “My sister Jodie Cook completed an MBA at UNE and my son Jesse Rosenberg completed a Master of Teaching at UNE in 2020. Jodie’s daughter Phoebe is also currently pursuing a PhD at Macquarie University.”
And it was not only his own
Photos:
A John Waters nursing his sister Beverley, with his parents Jack and Ina Waters at Minmi in 1940.
B John receiving his engineering degree from the University of NSW in 1962.
C John and his wife Marjorie at his MBA graduation at Macquarie University in 1974.
D John at his Master of Letters graduation at UNE in 1987.
E The final milestone – John's graduation with a PhD from Western Sydney University in 2005, aged 69.
F Celebrating his PhD graduation with his grandchildren.
family that John encouraged. He was a “regular as clockwork” donor to UNE scholarships and left $20,000 in his will to the UNE Alumni Association Members Prize fund.
“Dad was a person of great character and generosity and had strong values about assisting people who needed help,” Lesley says. “That was at the heart of his
University of Sydney. Somehow, he squeezed continuous study into a busy work and home life.
“There were always university materials lying around,” Lesley says. “Dad’s way of studying was delightful to watch. He would read and read and read, widely and broadly, then deeply ponder the topic. When an assignment was due, he would pull it all
ongoing support for universities, including UNE. He highly valued education and appreciated the opportunities he had throughout his life. He wanted to leave a small legacy to help others.”
After a successful career spent mostly with steel product manufacturer Lysaghts, the Atomic Energy Commission and 3M Australia, John went on to consult and teach at the Australian Graduate School of Engineering Innovation, then part of the
role in my Mum’s business, and to be a good husband and father. He really enjoyed his experience of distance education, particularly the weeks spent on campus at UNE. He always looked forward to the drive up to Armidale and the time spent with other students and his supervisors.”
John’s influence – as the first in his family to study at university
together and smash out something very good. He truly was a lifelong learner.”
At UNE, John pursued interests in innovation and organisational psychology, listening to his lessons on cassette tapes on his way to and from work. “It was a big undertaking for him, working full-time and studying, but he was also very handy and managed to do whatever was needed around the house, to play an important behind-the-scenes
– soon rubbed off. “Dad saw his education as something valuable and set the standard for us all. All his grandchildren have undertaken some kind of tertiary study. He was so proud, and turned up to every single graduation ceremony, which he loved.”
The family are thrilled that John’s bequest may support other talented students to similarly achieve their academic dreams.
D
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Trials and triumphs
Trials and triumphs
Investment in the next generation of First Nations leaders and health professionals takes many forms.
Last year was challenging for Maryann.
To complete compulsory placements and course work as part of her Master of Clinical Psychology at UNE she lived on the Armidale campus throughout the week and travelled four hours home to her four children each weekend.
The demanding schedule also meant she had to resign from all three of the jobs she’d held to support her family.
“I have sacrificed a lot and it’s the longest I’ve ever been away from my children, which was really hard,” she says. “It was difficult not being near family when they needed me and when I needed a hug, too.”
Without the scholarships she received, Maryann says she would simply not have been able to study or advance her dream to work in remote and rural communities with high First Nations populations.
“I would like to provide a culturally appropriate psychology service, that is adapted to help people heal on Country,” she says. “I dropped out of high school, but I’ve become passionate about psychology. Now I want to give back and be on the journey with people as they recover.”
An Oorala accommodation scholarship covered a portion of Maryann’s college accommodation costs, and a Max Schroder
Mentoring Scholarship met the rest. An additional Indigenous Postgraduate Psychology Scholarship has also helped fund travel and study expenses and the rent of Maryann’s family home, supplemented by a paid mentoring role at UNE’s Oorala Aboriginal Centre.
Fellow Master of Clinical Psychology student Craig Raymond appreciates Maryann’s sacrifices – because he has made them himself during his six years of full-time study at UNE.
He, too, is first in his (Wiradjuri) family to attend university and, like Maryann, is grateful for the scholarship support he has been receiving – an Oorala accommodation scholarship, the inaugural
Photo: The opening of the new courtyard at the Oorala Aboriginal Centre in March 2024. Credit: Simon Scott.
I have been able to show my family that if I can achieve something as amazing as this, they can as well.
Brittany Abraham Memorial Scholarship and an Australian Psychological Society Bendi Lango Bursary.
“It has been a massive help. These scholarships enable me to spend more time studying, maintaining my family connections and responsibilities, and paying for travel and accommodation,” said Craig, who has also had to travel to Armidale for extended clinical placements.
Casual employment as an Oorala (Indigenous Studies) academic, lecturer in psychology and rugby league referee have helped to “meet financial deficits” while visiting Armidale. Back home in Sydney, Craig is also a dedicated volunteer lifeguard, rugby league coach and club committee member.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do any of the volunteer work without the scholarships,” he says. “This final year is definitely the hardest, but I hope I am setting an example for my son and opening his mind to the possibility of university study.
“My goal is to work in private practice, to give me the freedom to spend time with my family and then travel to regional and remote areas to do assessments and psychological testing. Regional and remote areas are grossly under-serviced, and I want Indigenous community work to be part of what I do.”
Oorala Director Samantha Fowler said 75% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at UNE are mature-age learners who often balance their studies with family and work responsibilities.
“For many, scholarships provide essential financial support, allowing them to focus on their education without having to choose between studying and meeting the cost of living,” Samantha said. “Some students reduce their work hours to dedicate more time to their studies, while others relocate – sometimes leaving home for the first time – to pursue higher education.
“Many come from families that are unable to provide financial support, making them solely responsible for funding their studies. Scholarships play a crucial role in making university education accessible, easing financial pressures and creating opportunities for success.”
Studying full-time and working part-time has been essential to father-of-four Nick Bowditch completing his undergraduate psychology degree, Honours and now PhD at UNE. The Lifeline helpline volunteer and former nurse is also a speaker, author and counsellor, and has been a recipient of the Don and Lee Stammer Scholarship for the
Craig Raymond.
past four years.
“I couldn’t have studied without it, and run my clinic and volunteer and parent properly,” Nick says. “The annual payment of $5,000 may not sound like a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but it is an amazing help to me and brings peace of mind.”
Living with his own mental illness and becoming a parent gave Nick the impetus to study psychology.
“It made me think I could do something for other people like me. It’s the privilege of my life to work as a counsellor and to have people share with me things they haven’t previously shared with another person. It gives me the opportunity to help them change their lives. There’s no way I could have pursued this without the scholarship. Lee and Don have helped me to change my life.
“In future, I would like to contribute to research that supports First Nations peoples, who are over-represented both in the addiction and rehabilitation statistics.”
Nick Bowditch.
Photo:
Photo:
When they graduate, Maryann and Craig will join the ranks of the less than 1% of clinical psychologists who are First Nations peoples.
“I have been able to show my family that if I can achieve something as amazing as this, they can as well,” Maryann said. “My eldest daughter started a nursing degree at UNE in 2024 and my niece has now begun a pathways program at Central Queensland University to do midwifery down the track.
“I want to express my gratitude to the donors for helping me to achieve my dreams – things that I never thought were within
my reach. To be completing a Masters and about to become a psychologist is a huge achievement.”
Along the way, Maryann has mentored three undergraduate recipients of the Max Schroder Indigenous Scholarships. “I like to think of myself as someone who has their back, who is there to support them when they’re feeling overwhelmed and can’t reach out for help themselves,” she says. “The mentoring experience has been personally and professionally valuable for me, especially as I set out to help people, to remind them that they are not alone.”
For more information on scholarships available to First Nations scholars, go to https:// www.une.edu.au/scholarships/ indigenous-scholarships
To discuss supporting scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, contact advance@une.edu.au
Photo: 2024 Oorala Student Award winners Theresa Davis, Teneille Blair, Vanessa Sewell, Uncle Colin Ahoy, Deputy Chancellor Jan McLelland, Craig Raymond, Oorala Director Sam Fowler and Sueling Ahoy. Credit: Dan Elliot.
Illuminating history
Throughout its 65-year history, this museum has grown to become one of Australia’s premier archaeological collections, thanks largely to generous donations.
The refurbishment of Australia’s only regional museum of antiquities – the University of New England Museum of Antiquities (UNEMA) – was proudly supported by the UNE Foundation (UNEF).
“A UNEF contribution enabled us to completely rewire and paint the main display room, and install air-conditioning critical to the
conservation and protection of artefacts,” said UNEMA’s curator Dr Bronwyn Hopwood.
Nine new public galleries have enabled thematic and ethnographic collections to be displayed alongside UNEMA’s classical antiquities of the ancient Mediterranean world, including an Egyptian mummified foot and impressive Cypriot pottery.
“There are hundreds of new artefacts to be seen, as well as some existing pieces that have never been on display before,” Bronwyn said. “UNEMA is a fabulous resource. Nowhere else in regional Australia can our students and volunteers engage with 5,000-10,000-year-old artefacts from around the world and explore their stories, while learning all the skills that go into collecting, conserving, researching and displaying cultural material.”
UNEMA contains some 3,000 items and the revamp has made clever use of today’s technologies. The displays are now accompanied by engaging, interactive digital experiences accessed through touchscreens, audioguides, virtual and augmented reality.
“The next phase is to seek financial support for scholarships to pay volunteers to receive training as docents,” Bronwyn said. “This would enable us to extend our weekday opening hours [Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm and Fridays 9am-8pm] to include weekends.”
You can lend your support to UNEMA by making a taxdeductible donation to future projects, research and exhibitions. Donations of all sizes are very welcome and significant donations in support of UNEMA can be named after their generous benefactors.
For more information, email Dr Bronwyn Hopwood at bhopwood@une.edu.au
Photo: UNEMA’s touchscreen animations of The Globe Theatre bring it to life for Billie Andersen and Damián Campione van Zetten. Credit: Kathleen Murphy.
UNE prizes
Accounting and Financial Entrepreneurship PrizeCorporate Finance
Accounting and Financial Entrepreneurship PrizeFundamentals of Personal Finance
Accounting and Financial Entrepreneurship PrizeSmall Business Finance
M Ambrose Memorial Prize Economics
Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology Southeast Asia and Pacific Archaeological Fieldwork Prize
Australian Human Resources Institute Prize in Human Resource Management
Australian Society for Microbiology Prize
Mary Bagnall Scholarship
Baker Prize for Second Year Latin
S Barratt Memorial Award in Psychology
NCW Beadle Prizes in Botany
JH Bell Prize for First Year Sociology
JH Bell Prize for Third Year Sociology
John D Black Prize for Agricultural Economics
Dirk Boomsma Memorial Peace Studies Bursaries
Michael Brown Memorial Prize
Emeritus Professor Trevor Bryce Prize for 3rd Year Ancient History
Bob Buchanan Memorial Prize in Cinema
Pat Buchanan Memorial Prize in Social Work
Thomas Arnold Burr Memorial Prize
Prof John Burton Memorial Prize in Natural Resources
Gilbert Butland Prize - Geography
NP Cameron Memorial Award (AFM)
Tony Cartwright Prize
Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in Faculty of HASSE
Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in Faculty Medicine/Health
Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in Faculty of SABL
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Prize
E Cheung Prize - Corporate & Management Accounting
Rennie Clayton Memorial Prize
Alice Coventry Award
Lucy Elizabeth Craigie Award
J Crawford Memorial Prize
Jennifer Crew Prize in History
AB Cunningham Memorial Prize
Louise T Daley Prize for Australian History
Clan Davidson Performance Prize - Mary White College
Arthur J Davies Prize in Politics
Jennifer Davies Memorial Award - Duval College
Maiben Davies Prize
Ray Day Memorial Prize
Katharine Dolan Memorial Prize in Ancient History
James Dolan Memorial Prize in History
Bishop Doody Memorial Gold Medal for Latin
DH Drummond Thesis Prize in Economic Studies
Ecology Staff Prize for 1st year
Charles Ede Prize
Cath Ellis Memorial Fund
Elsevier Natashia Scully Award
School of ERS Prize in Rural Science
Judy Ewing Memorial Prize
J Fox Prize Fund in Regional Geography
MA Franklin Prize - Mary White College
Friends of Cinema Prize Film Study
Betty Fyffe Memorial Prize in Nursing
Ron Gannaway Prize
Professor Lynda Garland Prize for First Year
Classical Greek
Graduate Women NSW Inc Prize in Biology
Graduate Women NSW Inc Prize in English
Professor DR Grey Prize in Philosophy - 1st Year
Professor DR Grey Prize in Philosophy - 2nd Year
Professor DR Grey Prize in Philosophy - 3rd Year
Professor DR Grey Prize in Philosophy - 4th Year
John Guise Memorial Prize
J Hanna Classics Prize
Sarah Heagney Memorial Scholarship
Arthur Heath Memorial Scholarship
Susan Hemming Prize - Mary White College
Hewison Prize
Cecil Hill Postgraduate Scholarship Fund
W Hoddinott Prize for English
Dr Yawei Huang Prize
Bob Hughes Prize for Law
Incipient Peacemakers Award, sponsored by the Australian Christian Student Movement
Inverell Rotary Prize
RJ Johnson Prize
S Johnson Prize in Linguistics
Grahame Jones Memorial Prize
PE Jones Memorial Fund
G Kalocsai Prize Geochemistry 303-1
Haddon Forrester King Prize [Scholarship]
Eleanor Kitto Memorial Prize
Rama Krishna Sastry Pappu Memorial Prize
KU Children's Prize
Alec Lazenby Prize in Agronomy
Richard Leigh Prize in Memory of Associate Professor
David Londey
Barbara Levien Prize for First Year Music
JN Lewis Foundation Prize
KG Lewis Prize in Organic Chemistry - 1st Year
KG Lewis Prize in Organic Chemistry - 2nd Year
KG Lewis Prize in Organic Chemistry - 3rd Year
E Dulce Lindsay Prize
Ian Loaney Prize In Politics
Klaus Loewald Memorial Book Grant
E MacArthur Prize in Agricultural Policy
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Science1st Year Applied Mathematics
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Science1st Year Computer Science
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Science1st Year Mathematical Statistics
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Science2nd or 3rd Year Mathematical Statistics
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Science1st Year Pure Mathematics
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Science2nd or 3rd Year Pure Mathematics
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Scienceany year or unit
School Prizes in Mathematics and Computer Science2nd or 3rd Year Computer Science
Hassan Mazloumi Memorial Award
AG and IC McCready Honours Bursary for Ancient History
AG and IC McCready Honours Bursary for Classical Languages
AG and IC McCready UNEMA Research Bursary for Classical Antiquities
Gaius McIntosh & Family Prize Applied Mathematics
Rev E Norman McKie Memorial Scholarship
Barbara Meredith Memorial Award (Diploma Level)
Barbara Meredith Memorial Award
Sir James Murdoch Scholarship
David Murray Memorial Award
N Priestly Memorial Prize - Mary White College
RS Neale Memorial Fund
Betty Newsome Memorial Scholarship
R Norwood Memorial Prize
Earle Page College Choral and Piper Prize
Sir Earle Page Memorial Prize - 1st Year
Sir Earle Page Memorial Prize - 2nd Year
Earle Charles Page Memorial Prize
Bryan Pape Prize
Parramatta and District Regional Law Society PrizeTrimester 1
Parramatta and District Regional Law Society PrizeTrimester 2
Parramatta and District Regional Law Society PrizeTrimester 3
Lily Pereg Memorial Award
Oorala Merit Prize
Oorala Progression Prize
Pharmaceutical Defence Ltd Prize - 1st Year
Pharmaceutical Defence Ltd Prize - 2nd Year
UNE prizes
Pharmaceutical Defence Ltd Prize - 3rd Year
Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) NSW Branch
Awards 3rd Year
Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) NSW Branch Awards 4th Year
Physiology Prize for Third Year Physiology
Jim Pollard Memorial Award for On Campus Students
School of Psychology Certificate of Commendation
School of Psychology Medal for Outstanding Scholarship
Rambo Sports Scholarship - Robb College Rugby Union
B Richardson Memorial - Mary White College
F Reece & W Tait Prize in Public Finance
Riggs Prize in Chemistry for First Year
Riggs Prize in Chemistry for Second Year
Riggs Prize in Chemistry for Third Year
Robb College FoundationFinancial Management Research Centre Prize
Robb College Foundation - Gwyn James Prize
Robb College Foundation - Junior Common Room Scholarship-Prize
Robb College Foundation - Meredith Prize
Robb College Foundation Olympus Award
Robb College Women in Sports Year 2 Scholarship
Robb College Women in Sports Year 3 Scholarship
Roberts + Morrow Prize in Principles of Corporations Law
Roberts + Morrow Prize in Principles of Taxation Law
Wendy Roberts Science Prize
RGC & HF Robertson-Cuninghame Prize
A Rose Memorial Prize
Natashia Scully/School of Health Medal
Mark Serafin Memorial Award
Howard Sheath Prize for Off-Campus Students
Jack Sinden Memorial Prize
Muriel Mary Snow Indigenous Honours Prize
HM Spedding Prize for Mathematics
Jill Spilsbury Prize
GR Stanton Prize for Second Year Greek
Alex and Selma Stock Memorial Prize in Zoology
RH Stokes Prize for Experimental Chemistry
Sally Stratton Prize
Acram Taji Bursary
Acram Taji International Bursary
Colin Tatz Prize In Politics
Griffith Taylor Centenary Prize for Geography
Peter Thomas Prize in Languages
Bronnie Treloar Scholarship
Bronnie Treloar Prize in French
Peter J Tyler Prize in Australian History
UNE Alumni Association Award for International Students
UNE Alumni Association Award for Online Students
UNE Alumni Sports Prize
UNE Life Prize
UNE Music Prize
UNE Players Prize
UniSuper Fundamentals of Personal Finance Prize
UniSuper Security Analysis and Portfolio Management Prize
Freddy Roberto Valenzuela Foundation Prize
University of New England Women's Association Prize
Russel Ward Prize in History
Max Webster Art Prize
Mary White College Prize
Mary White College - S Randell Prize
Mary White College SCR Scholarship
Mary White College Sportsman of the Year
Mary White College Sportswoman of the Year Award
Gordon Williams Scholarship - Robb College Rugby Union Football Club
Stanley Wilson Prize
Melissa Woods Medieval History Honours and Postgraduate Prize
J Woolmington Prize for History
H Wragge Memorial Scholarship
P Wright Memorial Prize - Mary White College
Serving up student support
A country upbringing has inspired two country scholarships
A family’s proud heritage, a beloved sister and a town called Pilliga are honoured by two new scholarships for UNE students from northern NSW.
The son of hard-working Greek migrants, Jim Poulos KC carved
out a successful legal career after growing up in the Namoi Café his parents ran for about 30 years in Pilliga. Looking back, the 82-year-old appreciates what they sacrificed for their family’s future. And he would now like to help others.
“My parents worked from 7am-9pm seven days a week. It was back-breaking and very physical work,” Jim recalls. “They couldn’t afford boarding school for us. I was fortunate to get into Sydney Boys’ High, one of the few selective schools at the time,
Photo: Jim Poulos KC and his sister Mary Field. Credit: Sydney Snap.
In naming one of the UNE scholarships for Mary, I wanted to recognise my sister for overcoming adversity and for all the things she has done in her lifetime.
but it meant my mother moving to Sydney to live with me while my father ran the café.”
At the University of Sydney, where he subsequently studied law, Jim was a co-founder of its resurrected rugby league club (in 1963) and a star debater, who was selected to represent the university in parliamentary debating against Great Britain. He went on to work as an articled clerk, solicitor, barrister and then Queen’s (now King’s) Counsel until his retirement in 2018, serving as a member of the Bar Council for 11 years.
Oddly enough, for someone who grew up so far from the sea, Jim became president of Australia’s largest surf lifesaving club –North Bondi – from 1974-79 and remains its proud patron.
However, misadventure and circumstance prevented his older sister Mary from pursuing tertiary study in her youth.
“Mary was a tremendously focussed student and had an amazing work ethic,” Jim said. “But at age 15 (in 1947) she broke her neck diving into the artesian bore at Pilliga and spent almost 12 months in hospital. She returned to school at Sydney Girls’ High and got six ‘A’s in the leaving certificate, before going back to Pilliga to work in the café
for five years.”
It would be another 30 years before Mary could complete an undergraduate degree, at UNE. By that time, she had forged her own pioneering path – in a livestock export business in Sydney and working with the US Airforce in Germany and Spain.
“In naming one of the UNE scholarships for Mary (now Field), I wanted to recognise my sister for overcoming adversity and for all the things she has done in her lifetime,” Jim said. “When she returned to Pilliga in 1954, Mary helped to run the tennis club, taught Sunday school and served as a corre-
spondent to The Coonabarabran Times. She later came up against the glass ceiling professionally in Sydney, but her UNE degree took her career in a completely different direction.”
Mary, now 93, said the cost of university fees and boarding in Sydney, on top of the hospital charges they had incurred during her recovery, would have been too much for her parents at that time. “One of my schoolteachers tried to persuade my mother to let me go on to university, but in those days girls weren’t educated. There were few opportunities for women beyond being a teacher, secretary or nurse. You were expected to get
Photo: The Namoi Café in Pilliga, circa 1950s.
married and that was the end of it, so I left school in fifth year.”
But Mary did not give up on her academic ambitions.
“The great opportunity for me came in the early 1980s, when I was able to do an Arts degree at UNE for free,” said Mary, who by then had been married, had two daughters, and divorced. “I wouldn’t have had the oppor-
tunity to study otherwise. I had the children to look after, and I could do the study by distance at home. It was ideal and I enjoyed it. The only thing I regret is that my parents died without knowing what I had achieved.”
For completing that first qualification inspired Mary to also study law at the University of Sydney. “I was 52 when I started
my law degree and 56 when I started working as a lawyer. I worked in law until I was 79, so it all worked out well in the end.”
It’s only now, mid-way through writing his memoir, that Jim realises how influential their upbringing in the Namoi Valley was. He hopes that by providing financial support to two UNE students he can similarly set them on the path to the successful lives he and Mary have enjoyed.
Ironically, their father George was studying to be a lawyer himself when he and his wife Maro set sail for Australia in 1928.
“Setting up the café was an act of desperation for my father, who couldn’t speak English well enough to get work in other roles,” said Jim. “Our mother was a very intelligent woman and started studying nursing when she came to Australia, but then the Great Depression hit, and they were forced to leave Sydney and our mother had to abandon her studies.
“They left Sydney and worked for George Anast in the Monterey Café in Coonamble, where they learnt the trade, before starting the Namoi Café in Pilliga in 1933. Theirs was a tough life, but they knew the value of education.”
The Jim Poulos Scholarship and Mary Evelyn Field Scholarship, each of three years’ duration, are open to students in northwestern NSW.
For more information, go to https://www.une.edu.au/ scholarships/commencingstudents
Photo: Poulos children Patty, Jim and Mary outside their home.
Photo: Greek migrants Maro and George Poulos in their Pilliga garden.
Scholars and their sponsors
One of the highlights on the UNE calendar each year is our Scholarship Donor Luncheon.
It brings our valued donors together with the individuals who have benefitted first-hand from their generosity. And there are smiles all-round as new friendships are made and old ones renewed. Recipients have the chance to share how their lives have been transformed – by their UNE education and the people who have helped make it possible.
Enjoy this gallery of photographs from our 2024 UNE Scholarship Donor Luncheon taken by Simon Scott.
A l-r Jill Spilsbury and Gloria Cook.
B l-r Richard Evans, Carole and Stan Droder Scholarship trustee, and Jennifer Corderoy, scholar.
C l-r Betty Fyffe Scholarship scholars Lucy Ball, Caitlin Barber and Harriet Morgan.
D Geoff Perry (centre), Chair Robb College Foundation, with scholars.
E Cec Spence Memorial Scholarship trustees John Sewell and Sue Grace (centre) with scholars.
F l-r Emily McHugh, Aurora Dairies Scholarship recipient, David van Aanholt, UNE Foundation director, and Amelia Wearing, Robb College Foundation Meredith Scholarship recipient.
G l-r Millie Creagh, William McIlrath Rural Scholarship recipient, and Paige Brown, Robb College Foundation Meredith Scholarship recipient.
H Betty J Fyffe Scholarship scholars.
I Emma Holmes, CEF/UNE Foundation Scholarship recipient.
J Richard Evans (centre), Carole and Stan Droder Scholarship trustee, with scholars.
K l-r Ross Beaney, Chair UNE Foundation, and Foundation Director Audrey Bower.
L l-r Shane Gardner and Machteld Hali, donor Aboriginal Scholarship in Creative Arts Education.
Photos:
Stronger together
Since 2019, UNE has partnered with the RAS Foundation to provide 37 life-changing student scholarships.
When Cassie MacBean was accepted to study medicine at UNE in 2016 – achieving a long-held dream – she had a lot on her plate.
Her husband was still recovering from leukaemia, and enrolment meant the couple selling their home on the NSW South Coast and moving almost 1,000 kilometres to Armidale. An experienced medical scientist in pathology, Cassie would go on to spend the first year of her degree in Armidale alone.
“When we finally sold our home, my husband was still experiencing complications and was unable to work, so I worked parttime in the pathology laboratory at Armidale Hospital to support
us while studying full-time,” she said.
“It was not an easy time. I would either work evening shifts or weekends and was sometimes on call for emergencies.
“The Rural Scholarship I received from the RAS (Royal Agricultural Society) Foundation, partly funded by the UNE Foundation, was amazing. It meant I didn’t have to work so much and that the things I needed for uni –textbooks and the cost of travel and accommodation for placements – was funded.”
Throughout her studies, Cassie’s husband unfortunately had further medical complications, necessitating regular travel for follow-up treatment and
assessments. “Even today, if anything goes wrong, we must at least go to Tamworth to see a specialist and sometimes to Sydney and Melbourne. It’s a never-ending battle navigating the healthcare system living in a rural area. It’s challenging financially, time-wise and emotionally.”
But far from discouraging her own pursuit of medicine, Cassie’s personal experiences have only fuelled her determination. “Every Australian deserves quality healthcare and it was always my intention to return to a rural area,” she said.
“The scholarship support I received was amazing and I felt I had a responsibility to repay that by giving back to a rural or regional community.”
Cassie is now working as an Emergency Department registrar in Tamworth while she completes her training and looks forward to returning to Armidale to practice emergency medicine to help address “the deficit of doctors” in the New England and North West.
This is perfectly aligned with the RAS Foundation’s objective to help build thriving, vibrant and innovative rural and regional communities in NSW and the ACT that have the infrastructure, services and skilled people they need.
Foundation Manager Cecilia Logan said its Rural Scholarships – which help regional students with relocation and living expenses – have immediate financial benefits for recipients but also longer-term community advantages. A 2021 study revealed that 78% of scholars returned to rural
Photo: Cassie MacBean in the Emergency Department of Tamworth Hospital. Credit: Gillian Dorrstein.
The scholarship support I received was amazing and I felt I had a responsibility to repay that by giving back to a rural or regional community.
and regional centres after completing their studies.
“Our Rural Scholarships, which we offer thanks to partnerships with donors like the UNE Foundation, dramatically reduce the financial stress students experience but also influence their future career choices,” Cecilia said. “Partnering with organisations like the UNE Foundation boosts the number of scholarships we can offer and helps us to attract other donations.”
In the past 14 years, the RAS Foundation has provided 883 scholarships for education and training, valued at $4,679,735. The 91 awarded in 2024, alone, totalled $516,000.
“The Rural Scholarships help to close the gap between country students and city students, providing access to higher education to ensure brighter futures,” Cecilia said. “Our understanding is that many would otherwise find it impossible to study.”
That was certainly the case for Sophie Morrison, who is in the final throes of her Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine studies at UNE and the University of Newcastle. She was raised by a single Mum in Broken Hill.
To finance her studies, Sophie has worked at a gym – starting at 4am most days – and tutored Indigenous medical students through UNE’s Oorala Aboriginal Centre late into the night.
Accommodating unpaid mandatory placements has had its challenges, so she was “incredibly grateful” to receive first a Betty J Fyffe Scholarship and then a RAS Foundation Rural Scholarship.
“The cost of relocating from Wollongong to Armidale was massive in and of itself,” Sophie said. “It would have been very stressful without these scholarships. They have helped me to focus fully on my studies and to complete my placements.”
While she is not yet sure what kind of doctor she wants to become, Sophie is passionate about increasing the availability of specialist care in the bush.
“I’ve seen how difficult it can be for people to access care.
A good friend of mine spent the
last part of her life travelling back and forth to Adelaide for cancer treatment. Wherever I end up specialising – and I’m quite interested in obstetrics and gynaecology – I want to advocate for specialist services and a continuity of GP care back home.”
Last year the UNE Foundation helped to fund five RAS Foundation Rural Scholarships and will contribute $20,000 this year.
For more information, go to https://www.rasnsw.com.au/ foundation/scholarships/rasfoundation-rural-scholarships
Photo: Sophie Morrison outside John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.
A return on UNE’s investment
The UNE Foundation (UNEF) is managed by an independent Board of Directors who oversee the management of financial gifts and donations made to the university.
UNEF is responsible for ensuring that the value of donations made to the university is maintained and increased, while generating sufficient income to pay for scholarships, prizes, research, and teaching and research priorities. It is managed by a Board of Directors drawn from UNE’s alumni community, who volunteer their time and expertise to administer some 400 sub-funds.
“It’s our job to ensure that donations from community members are used in accordance with their wishes and we are committed to the proper stewardship of those funds, with particularly strong strategic asset allocation,” said UNEF Chair Ross Beaney. “By managing those funds well, we assist the university and its students in the short and long term.”
Photo: UNEF Board Director and UNE alumna Audrey Bower.
Photo: UNEF Board member Charles Johnston celebrates his graduation in 1994 with his mother Diana outside Booloominbah.
I am pleased to be giving back to the university that gave me such a good experience.
The board comprises members with a balance of specialist skills in governance and investment management, and many have had long associations with the university, including Audrey Bower and Charles Johnston.
Audrey already had vast experience working in the insurance, superannuation and financial planning sectors when she began studying Arts/Law at UNE in 1995. After qualifying as a solicitor, she quickly progressed to leading a team of legal professionals.
“I had a fantastic time at UNE; it was wonderful. I enjoyed the residential schools and the diverse student cohorts I belonged to,” said Audrey.
The current Chief Legal and Risk Officer at Catholic Schools NSW believes regional universities like UNE have a significant role to play.
“They offer something different to the metropolitan universities in terms of student and on-campus experiences,” Audrey said. “At UNE, students get the all-round experience of being part of a community, but I appreciate how important financial support can be to helping them get through. Many regional students are on the back foot when compared to their metropolitan counterparts, so the work of the foundation is incredibly important.”
Having been born and raised in Armidale, Charles’ enrolment at UNE to complete a Bachelor of Financial Administration was a natural progression. After graduation, he qualified as a chartered accountant and subsequently an investment advisor. Since then, his career has spanned key
financial institutions, and today he is the Principal and Director of Morgans Cronulla.
Like Audrey, Charles was appointed to the UNEF Board in late 2023, bringing extensive financial knowledge, strategic insight and dedication to the growth and prosperity of the UNE community to his position.
“UNEF is setting itself up for significant growth and to run significant levels of funds in a structured way,” Charles said. “Board members complement each other with their skillsets and expertise, in my case in equities.
“My time at UNE was tremendous and it’s been wonderful to return home. Everyone on the board either has rural roots or has had reasonable experience in the country, so we understand
the needs and challenges that students might experience.
“Day-to-day living is expensive and we hope the foundation helps to alleviate some of those financial pressures. Maintaining and growing our corpus will depend on engaging with alumni and potential corporate partners. It’s exciting to consider what we can provide to the university and, by extension to students, through extra resources.”
For both Audrey and Charles, being directors of UNEF is a valuable opportunity to “pay it forward”.
“I am pleased to be giving back to the university that gave me such a good experience,” Audrey said. “I have enjoyed being part of UNE again and seeing the great work that’s happening.”
Photo: l-r Carla Ormsby, JB Were; Curtis Reid, JB Were; Ilias Dimopoulos, UNE; Matt Pattison, JB Were; Simon Stevenson, UNE Foundation Investment Subcommittee; Kim Lawrence, UNE Foundation Company Secretary; Ross Beaney, Chair UNE Foundation; Nicole Patterson, UNE Foundation; Audrey Bower, UNE Foundation; David van Aanholt, UNE Foundation; Charles Johnston, UNE Foundation; Michael Browne, JB Were. Credit Matthew Cawood.
