Each year UNE is proud to applaud the achievements of outstanding alumni through a series of prestigious awards. Our Distinguished, Community and Rising Star award winners are recognised for performing with distinction in their professional and personal lives across a range of professions and communities.
This year, from a stellar line-up, we have chosen three Distinguished Award winners who have made significant contributions during the course of their careers, displaying outstanding leadership and embodying UNE’s values of creativity, innovation, risk-taking, access and inclusion. These include:
- Gonzalo Perez del Castillo, consultant, for his dedication to improving the circumstances of those disadvantaged by poverty, inequity and lack of access through his significant contribution to the United Nations Development Programme in South America;
- Professor John Gillies, Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex, United Kingdom, for his exceptional contribution to Literature and Film Studies and his innovative attempts to explore new topics and new ways of understanding English Renaissance literature; and
- Professor David Mellor, Foundation Director of Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre, Massey University, NZ, for his ground-breaking research in Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics, which is revolutionising the way in which animal welfare is viewed, implemented and monitored.
Two Alumni Community Award winners are recognised for their significant contributions (through paid or unpaid work) in the community sector, philanthropic or public life or through their support for not-for-profit organisations. The winners this year are:
- Tricia Blombery, President of Graduate Women, NSW, for her significant contribution to developing initiatives in education essential for empowering women, reducing poverty, improving health, human rights and security and maintaining peace; and
- Associate Professor Stuart Wark, of UNE’s School of Rural Medicine, for his significant contribution to supporting and caring for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
UNE Rising Star Award winners for this year, who displayed outstanding leadership in accordance with UNE values and will inspire future generations of UNE graduates, were:
- Trudie Larnach, Manager, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, Port Waratah Coal Services, for her strategy to improve environmental performance and sustainability and her excellence and innovation in gender diversity programs in the coal-mining industry; and
- Dr Mary McMillan, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at UNE, for her exemplary leadership, education and research skills in the field of molecular biology, molecular genetics and the biological basis of mental health disorders.
Chair of the awards selection committee, UNE Vice-Chancellor and CEO Professor Brigid Heywood, said this year’s winners reflect the calibre of UNE graduates.
"Each of the recipients reflect UNE’s values of community engagement, respect, access and inclusion and integrity," Professor Heywood said. "I would like to thank everyone who submitted an application; it was a great opportunity to learn more about the achievements of a number of our alumni since they finished studying with the University of New England.
"My thanks also to the members of the selection committee for sharing the daunting task of choosing the winners from a most distinguished field of nominations.
"Finally, my warmest congratulations to all seven UNE Alumni Award recipients. We will share their inspirational stories in the weeks to come."
