Honouring an inspiring educator: Barry Fields

Dr Barry Fields dedicated nearly 40 years to the University of Southern Queensland, sharing his passion for special education with generations of future teachers.

As a PhD supervisor, he inspired not only doctoral candidates, but also his own two sons to follow in his academic footsteps.

While they chose different fields – Mark CottmanFields, human-computer interaction, and brother Tim, physiotherapy – both credit their father’s strong support as instrumental in achieving their own research goals.

So when Barry sadly passed away in 2017, he left a considerable legacy. Mark and Tim wanted to honour their father, and give back, as he had. They pondered an opportunity to keep Barry’s memory alive while extending his life’s work by continuing to inspire and help future students.

Even though they didn’t think their funds would be sufficient to fund a bursary, the brothers contacted UniSQ and asked the question anyway. They were surprised by the answer.

Not only were they able to establish the Barry Fields Memorial Bursary relatively quickly, in 2020, they also got to direct its criteria to reflect Barry’s belief that everyone deserves to access and participate in education.

“We wanted it to go to those who are keen and who need it,” Mark explains. “If you’re eager, and you need some support, we would like to help.”

After already providing a total of $12,000 to six postgraduate education students across three years, a hiatus until 2025 will enable the bursary to be offered to continue Barry’s legacy.

Barry Fields

Mark’s message to anyone wanting to honour a loved one in this way is to work with what you have, and to imagine the legacy you want to leave.

“We didn’t know that there aren’t many education-focused scholarships at universities. We were told many folks who want to support education direct funds to schools,” Mark says.

“UniSQ said: ‘We can work through things, and you can do it in your own way’, which we didn’t think would be the case. It’s worked out well.”