Zac brings UNE its second Hawker Scholarship

May 23, 2007

Zac Gazzard, a student at the University of New England, has been rewarded for his academic and community achievements by the award of a Charles Allan Seymour Hawker Scholarship.

Hawker Scholarships are valued at up to $60,000 over four years, making them the most generous privately funded scholarships available to undergraduate and postgraduate students in Australia. They have been called "the Australian version of Rhodes Scholarships".

Zac (pictured here), who is a resident of UNE's Robb College, is working towards a double degree in Environmental Science and Law. He completed his Higher School Certificate studies at St Leo’s Catholic College in Sydney with a UAI score of 90.7, and has been recognised for pursuing his interest in the environment and politics – winning Keep Australia Beautiful, Commonwealth Bank, and regional environmental awards. He hopes to gain a position with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or in environmental reporting about Australia’s cultural and natural heritage.

"The scholarships reinforce the idea that being involved in the community is just as important as high grades," he said. "They support going into the political arena, so community leadership is definitely a factor."

Zac, who is the second recipient of the Hawker Scholarship from UNE after Skye Gabb – also from Robb College – became a Hawker Scholar last year, said he chose UNE because of the reputation of its environmental science program, and because it had a great mountaineering club due to the proximity of surrounding gorges. He also chose UNE because of the college lifestyle it offered.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. David Hawker MP, presented Zac with his scholarship certificate during a ceremony in the Members’ Dining Room at Old Parliament House, Canberra, on Friday 11 May. He was one of ten to receive the scholarship, which is provided to students at select universities in Australia. The Hawker Scholarships perpetuate the memory of the scholar, soldier, pastoralist and statesman C.A.S. Hawker (born in 1894), a cousin of David Hawker's father. Postgraduate winners of the scholarship are given the opportunity to follow in Charles Hawker's footsteps by studying at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

"Each of these recipients has already displayed a strong commitment to the ideals upon which the Charles Hawker Scholarship is founded," David Hawker said. "They are gifted scholars with inquiring minds, and have already contributed to the wider community."

Selection is based on personal qualities as well as academic ability. Applications for the 2008 Charles Hawker Scholarships open on 3 December 2007 and close on 18 January 2008. An application form and further information is available from www.hawkerscholarship.org or by contacting the secretary to the Trustees on (08) 8238 6295.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Zac Gazzard displayed here expands to include the Hon. David Hawker MP and the Head of Robb College, Janice Moran. It was taken in Canberra after the scholarship presentation ceremony.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at May 23, 2007 03:22 PM