"When I enrolled with UNE I was working full-time for a Sydney-based student exchange program, AFS International/Intercultural Programs, and keen to gain teaching qualifications. UNE was one of the few universities offering correspondence degrees (as they were called then) at the time. Doing practice teaching in the country also appealed to me.
I absolutely loved my studies at UNE. I was very engaged with the content. I found the pedagogical support just fantastic and the flexibility of studying at home really suited my work and lifestyle. We had annual residential programs, so a relationship with the university in situ was also part of the experience, which was really positive in every way.
Ironically, I actually never taught! Shortly after I finished my Grad Dip I moved to New York City, to work at the AFS headquarters. I was responsible for programs in the UK, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. I became hooked on NFP management and, in particular, organisations with a volunteer base.
I worked in New York for two-and-a-half years before returning to Australia in 1977 when I began my career in arts administration, serving as Federal Administrator of the Arts Council of Australia (now known as Regional Arts Australia).
The 1970s saw a burgeoning of films, plays and stories that reflected our growing sense of an Australian identity. It was a turning point for the arts and entertainment industries, which were very much fed by the resurgence of the Australian film industry and the role of television.
Over the years that followed I held senior management and board roles with Musica Viva, Opera Australia, the Australian Council for the Arts, the National Portrait Gallery and the Canberra Writers Festival. In 2012 I was thrilled to be awarded an AO for service to the arts.
I have used what I learnt about teaching at UNE throughout my career. All management roles include nurturing and leading people on a journey that is both organisational and personal; all advocacy requires some of these skills; and mentoring certainly uses the skills I learned. When I think about the great teachers I've had, that have all had an ability to inspire, which came from their own passion for a subject and ability to connect with students.
Australia has always had a rich tradition of literature and visual arts capturing the essence of our life on this ancient and beautiful continent. We have an extraordinary creative cultural life, with the great gift of Indigenous culture and traditions through to contemporary dance, theatre and music making of all genres.
I live in regional Australia now and the level of creative activity and the response to it from the community is amazing! The next chapter will be chairing the Bundanon Trust through an incredibly exciting phase as we build a new Boyd Gallery, cafe and ecolodge accommodation. I remain on the boards of the Australian Museum, the Sydney Orthopaepic Research Institute and the Australian National Academy of Music. Over the past year I have also been working with Ben Quilty and a fabulous local team to build a regional gallery in the Southern Highlands, which is a fabulous opportunity and tantalisingly within reach!"
