Two prominent graduates honoured on Australia Day

January 30, 2008

The present Governor and a former Premier of South Australia are among the graduates of the University of New England who were named in this year's Australia Day Honours List.

The Governor of South Australia, His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce (pictured here), was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for "distinguished contributions to Australia's defence industry through the provision of leadership and strategic advice on the development of naval capabilities, to maritime transport management, and to the people of South Australia".

Rear Admiral Scarce's distinguished career in the Royal Australian Navy from 1968 to 2004 included service in Vietnam on HMAS Sydney, at Spithead, UK on HMAS Melbourne, and at sea in HMA Ships Vendetta, Yarra, Duchess, and Perth. He took command of the training establishment HMAS Cerberus in 1995. Promoted to Commodore in 1997, he was appointed as Flag Officer Naval Training Command and then Commodore Logistics (responsible for supporting the Fleet at sea). He was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in 1999 and, from 2000 until 2003, was Head of Maritime Systems in the Defence Materiel Organisation of the Australian Defence Force – an organisation he led in 2004 before his retirement from the Navy.

He graduated from UNE with a Bachelor of Financial Administration degree in 1990. Among his other academic qualifications is a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy from the National Defence University, Washington DC.

The Hon. Dean Brown was Premier of South Australia from December 1993 to November 1996, and held a number of key Ministerial positions before retiring from Parliament in March 2006. He has been Chairman and Director of the mineral resources exploration company Hillgrove Resources Limited since 2006. He was the independent Chair of the Strathalbyn Community Consultative Committee, established by the South Australian Government to consider issues relating to a proposal for a zinc mine near Strathalbyn.

Mr Brown was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "service to the Parliament of South Australia and to the promotion of economic development and reform, and service through enhancing business and investment opportunities".

He has worked as a management consultant in both the private and the public sectors, and holds a number of board appointments – including the National Youth Mental Health Advisory Board and Foodbank SA.

He graduated from UNE with a Bachelor of Rural Science degree in 1967 and a Master of Rural Science degree in 1972. His most recent visit to the Armidale campus was in 2006 to participate in events celebrating the 50th anniversary of UNE's Rural Science degree program and the University's original residential college – Wright College.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at January 30, 2008 06:02 PM