July 23, 2014

Caps off: UOW celebrates another 1200 graduates

From riding 1000km for Indigenous literacy to developing a medical implant for epilepsy, UOW grads fly high.  

More than 1200 students will don caps and gowns to graduate from UOW in July, with ceremonies being held from Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 July.

UOW will play host to about 4,000 people (of whom 1200 will be graduands) for the mid year graduation ceremonies, including guest speakers Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb and Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Australia, Mr John Borghetti, who will also receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UOW.

Among those graduating will be medical bionics student Willo Grosse, who will receive a PhD for her development of a drug delivery brain implant to treat epilepsy; Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) student Amelia Gow, who has been investigating the reality and legality of tipping in Australia and Bachelor of Business (Honours) student Nathan Turnbull, who has been looking at using social marketing to reduce driver distraction - specifically mobile phone use by young drivers.

Graduands Liam Cooper and Josie Tamate have already been offered promising positions that will help kick start their respective careers. Bachelor of Commerce student Liam Cooper recently started a marketing internship at Universal Music, while Josie Tamate, who will receive a PhD in law, has been offered a position as the Director-General, Ministry of Natural Resources, Government of Niue.

Joanna Russell and John Kitchener prove that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything. Joanna, now a lecturer in public health at UOW, will receive a PhD in food security and diet quality after having to delay her studies to overcome breast cancer. Indigenous Health graduate John Kitchener, who is receiving the 2013 Robert Hope Memorial Prize, the University’s most prestigious student prize, spent 12 months fundraising for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, embarking on a solo bicycle ride from Sydney to the Gold Coast to raise funds and awareness about the foundation.

to influential engineer Professor Jinghai Li, former President of the University of Wollongong in Dubai Professor Rob Whelan, business leader and CEO of Virgin Australia John Borghetti and social justice campaigner Aunty Barbara Nicholson. 

For more photography of the graduands and ceremonies, see UOW's graduation website and Alumni Facebook page.