August 20, 2015

Adam Gilchrist announced as Australia’s new education ambassador to India

UOW Brand Ambassador and cricketing legend strengthens Australia’s education ties with India.

For the past seven years cricketing legend Adam Gilchrist, AM, has served as the University of Wollongong’s Brand Ambassador for India.

It’s a position he will maintain but now he is going into bat in a broader role that is set to greatly strengthen Australia’s education ties with India as Australia’s inaugural ambassador to India on education.

The Minister for Education and Training, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, today announced Mr Gilchrist’s appointment prior to departing to attend the annual Ministerial Dialogue and third Australia-India Education Council meeting in India on 24 August.

“Today I am delighted to announce Mr Adam Gilchrist AM as the first Australia-India Education Ambassador,” Mr Pyne said.

UOW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings, CBE, congratulated Mr Gilchrist on his new posting and praised him for the ongoing key role he has played in UOW’s successful engagement with Indian corporations, especially those involved in India’s IT sector.

UOW has one of Australia’s largest university-based IT research facilities and Mr Gilchrist has focused on encouraging Indian IT companies to consider establishing Australian operations at UOW’s Innovation Campus, a research and development precinct close to the University’s main campus in Wollongong.

Mr Gilchrist has been assisting UOW delegations at meetings with Indian government and business leaders, hosted corporate functions and met prospective students and the Indian media.
In his announcement today, Mr Pyne said Mr Gilchrist would now play an important part in supporting the growth in the strong bilateral education relationship between Australia and India, to help ensure that Australia continues to be seen as a high quality provider of education.

“Consistent with the pillars of the Draft National Strategy for International Education, the Australian Government is committed to reaching out to the world.

“I see Adam’s appointment as helping to build on this commitment, as he will help grow our already strong education partnership with India and raise Australia’s profile and reputation.

“The Indian people recognise Adam as one of cricket’s greats, and the values he espouses both on and off the field – excellence and integrity – are precisely those with which Australia wishes to uphold its reputation for high-quality education, training and research,” Mr Pyne said.

Mr Gilchrist said he was excited about his new role and welcomed the challenge ahead of him.

“I am honoured to have been chosen to perform this important role in helping strengthen the education ties between our two countries,” Mr Gilchrist said.

Referring to his time with the University of Wollongong, Mr Gilchrist said: “For the past seven years in my capacity as an ambassador at one of Australia’s best research universities I have seen first-hand the vital role education plays in the development of modern India.”

“Having spent so much of my cricketing career playing in India, I have gotten to understand the important bond Australia has with India.

“Being Australia’s first education ambassador to India will give me the opportunity to put so much back into that relationship through the all-important focus of learning and training.”

Adam Gilchrist will join Minister Pyne in New Delhi, India, on 24 August to help showcase the quality of Australia’s education systems in India.

Caption: Adam Gilchrist, AM, pictured with UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings, CBE, on an earlier visit to India