January 27, 2016

Visionaries, volunteers and role models honoured for Australia day

UOW students, alumni and pioneering staff have been recognised with Australia Day Honours.  

Altruistic young leader Hannah McInerney

At just 23 years old, UOW nursing student Hannah McInerney (pictured above) has already made a name for herself as a tireless volunteer and inspiring community leader. 

Last week, Hannah was named Kiama’s 2016 Young Citizen of the Year in recognition of her sustained efforts as the club and patrol captain of the Kiama Surf Life Saving Club and the brigade training officer for the Jamberoo Rural Fire Service. 

The aspiring paramedic also spent her ‘spare time’ last year volunteering for the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) at UOW, but was forced to give up her role after an accident mid-year spurred a gruelling recovery from back surgery. 

“I was really disappointed not to finish the program,” Hannah said, adding that her experiences with AIME were “among the most memorable” of her first year at university. 

About to embark on her second year of nursing, Hannah said a career in healthcare has always been on her radar, with her mother, aunt and three sisters-in-law all nurses. 

“First Aid, learning about injury and illness and helping people in need have always been a interest. Nursing has been associated with the family, so it is something that I have grown up with,” Hannah said, adding that she would like to gain experience in intensive care, high dependency, emergency and burns unit nursing. 

Hannah said it was “an absolute honour and privilege” to be named Kiama Young Citizen of the Year. 

“I'm not a person who enjoys the lime-light and believe that if you volunteer for the lime-light you are volunteering for the wrong reason. 

“Everyone that volunteers with me deserves the award as much as I do – volunteering is very much a team pursuit.”  

Leading Economist and AO recipient Henry Ergas

One of Australia’s leading economists, Professor Henry Ergas, who is Professor, Infrastructure Economics, within UOW’s Faculty of Business was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in the Australia Day Honours List. 

Professsor Ergas was originally appointed to UOW as the inaugural Professor of Infrastructure Economics at the SMART Infrastructure Facility at UOW. He currently works in the SMART Economics and Governance Group in the Faculty of Business. 

The accomplished economist and established opinion leader in the national infrastructure debate received his award for ‘distinguished service to infrastructure economics, and to higher education, to public policy development and review, and as a supporter of emerging artists’. His philanthropic service includes being founder of the Ergas Collection since 2000 which is a not-for-profit company which supports the work of emerging artists. 

Professor Ergas is a regulatory economist who held a range of leading positions at the OECD before returning to Australia in the mid-1990s. He chaired the Australian Intellectual Property and Competition Review Committee for the Australian Government in 1999-2000 and was a member of the Prime Minister’s Export Infrastructure Task Force in 2005 and of the Defence Industry Policy Review in 2006.  

Pioneering scientist and AC recipient Mary O’Kane

The NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O’Kane, who is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Science degree, from UOW, received the top honour as a Companion of the Order of Australia for her contributions as one of Australia’s leading science experts. She has been a strong supporter of research at UOW. 

Professor O’Kane has assisted with review and development of Centres of Excellence, the selection of research strengths, and has provided guidance on critical research appointments including selection of the Global Challenges Leaders. Furthermore, she made a significant contribution to UOW through her membership of the Board of the ITC. Now called UOW Enterprises, it oversees the University of Wollongong in Dubai and the University of Wollongong College.  

Child soldier and refugee Lawyer Deng Thiak Adut

Taken from his parents and seven siblings at the age of six and conscripted into the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, UOW alumnus Deng Thiak Adut could never have imagined the life he would end up leading. 

Now a prominent refugee lawyer and the subject of a viral video about his story, Deng, who received a Masters in Criminal Law from UOW in 2014, was invited to give the annual 2016 Australia Day address for NSW. 

Deng told the audience, which included Premier Mike Baird, to cherish living in a nation with “freedom from fear.” 

“I lost the freedom to read and write. I lost the freedom to sing children's songs. I lost the right to be innocent. I lost the right to be a child. 

"Instead I was taught to sing war songs. I was taught to love the death of others." 

Deng said he came to Australia “as an illiterate, penniless teenager, traumatised physically and emotionally by war” and could not have hoped for anything more than a primary level education in his home country of Sudan. 

“To be a lawyer was unthinkable. Australia opened the doors of its schools and universities.” 

“I would particularly like to thank the Western Sydney University where I received my Law degree and the University of Wollongong where I obtained my Masters degree in Law – an experience which enabled me to realise my dream of becoming a court room advocate.” 

“Australia educated me. How lucky I became. How lucky is any person who receives an education in a free land and goes on to use it in daily life.” 

Deng now practises in the areas of criminal, family, personal injury and employment law. He is an active contributor to the Parramatta Community Justice Clinic, which operates to provide disadvantaged members of the community access to the legal justice system. 

Astronomer and trailblazer Glen Moore

A passionate trailblazer who helped inspire generations of budding scientists, astronomer Glen Moore spent 44 years at UOW before retiring in 2014. 

The visionary initiator and long-term director of UOW’s Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium, the largest Centre of its kind in Australia and the region’s most visited indoor tourist attraction, was named one of the Illawarra’s top citizens last week. 

Bestowed the 2016 outstanding achievement or innovation award at Wollongong council’s annual citizenship and achievement awards, Glen was recognised as a visionary who was instrumental in the initiation and establishment of the Science Centre, which since its opening, has attracted more than one million visitors, hosted more than 7,000 school classes and provided, through its volunteer staff program, opportunities for local people with disabilities. 

In 2013, Glen was presented with the UOW Alumni Award for Community Service, for his “enduring commitment to opening minds, especially young minds, to wider realities and higher possibilities”   

Refugee advocate Sharyn Mackenzie

The founder of the Strategic Community Assistance to Refugee Families (SCARF), Sharyn Mackenzie, was honoured with an Order of Australia medal (OAM) for her service to the community through refugee support organisations. Many organisations like SCARF (founded in 2005) have played a pivotal role in assisting refugee communities (including those from UOW) in their resettlement process.  

Engineering education promoter Ray Tolhurst

Ray Tolhurst, who has an indefatigable interest in spreading the word of the benefits of an engineering education, was acknowledged in Illawarra’s Australia Day Awards as Senior Citizen of the Year. 

The Past Chair of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) Illawarra Branch has enjoyed a close relationship with UOW. 

The Honorary Principal Fellow in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences and Member of UOW’s Mining Research Group has been acknowledged by his university peers for his tireless support and his overall contributions to the University. 

He has been a key participant in the University’s Women in Engineering Summits, which have been aimed at encouraging more young women to consider careers in the engineering industry. 

This year’s six-day engineering summit was one transitioning into a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) camp to inspire the young women to change the world through engineering and technology-related areas. 

Health care executive Nieves Murray

The Illawarra Citizen of the Year is IRT chief executive Nieves Murray who is a graduate of UOW.

Operating over 36 campuses throughout Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, IRT Group is Australia’s largest community based organisation providing care and housing for 9000 seniors and employing 2100 staff. IRT Group also operates a Research Foundation that funds research into issues of ageing, IRT College (a vocational training centre focused on lifelong learning) and conducts social enterprise activities that support the Company’s mission. 

Before joining IRT in 1992 Nieves held positions in health, local government and the commercial sector. Nieves is a psychology graduate and holds postgraduate qualifications in Public Health and Management. During 2008 Nieves attended Executive Education at Harvard Business School. 

Nieves is an active member of the Illawarra business community as well as the seniors care and housing industry at a national and international level. She holds a number of directorships, including Vice Chair of the Property Council’s National Retirement Living Council. 

Social welfare campaigner Peter Kell

Peter Kell, a Fellow of UOW, was honoured as a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the Anglican Church, social welfare programs and their delivery, and to the Illawarra community.  

MEN’S Health champion Melissa Abu-Gazaleh 

A UOW graduate who founded the young men’s health charity, Top Blokes Foundation, was announced as the NSW Young Australian of the Year in the lead up to the national awards released this week.

Melissa Abu-Gazaleh is the Managing Director of the Top Blokes Foundation, which she founded in 2006, and was for a two-year period a member of the University’s Alumni Development Group. Melissa has also kept in close contact with UOW by participating in career and faculty student programs acting as a speaker and panel member. She graduated from UOW with a Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies in 2010.