Media Release
August 30, 2004
More than 2,000 to graduate from UniSA
*Inspiring journey from abattoir worker to CEO for Peter Burgoyne
(senior)
*Le Cordon Bleu/UniSA degree for SA hospitality identity Daljit Rao
This week will be a landmark in the lives of 2,417 people who will be conferred with degrees from the University of South Australia.
Graduation ceremonies will be held at the Adelaide Festival Theatre on Wednesday, September 1, at 3.00pm (for those graduating with degrees from UniSA’s Division of Business and Enterprise) and Thursday September 2 (for those graduating with degrees from the Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences) at 10.30am and 3.00pm.
Le Cordon Bleu qualification tops off remarkable career for hospitality trailblazer
Daljit Rao has come a long way from her first days working for an international hotel chain when she didn't even know how to make a club sandwich.
When Daljit graduates on September 1 with a UniSA/Le Cordon Bleu Master of Business Administration (International Hotel and Resort Management) it will be the icing on the cake of an illustrious career, which has taken her from hotel trainee in New Delhi, to one of the first women to lead a major city hotel in Adelaide.
"When I first got into hotels I didn't even know how to make a club sandwich – but I could see the opportunities that existed working in hotels and it was then I decided to make a career out of it, my goal was to learn every facet of the business from the ground up," Daljit said.
It's an attitude that has taken her places – when she was 30 she was appointed general manager of the Grosvenor Hotel in Adelaide, and 14 years on she was ‘head hunted’ to open a new five star hotel in Adelaide. Today Daljit is director of marketing and operations and deputy to the chief executive at the International College of Hotel Management.
An SA tourism trailblazer who has sat on numerous boards including the Australian Hotels Association and the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism, Daljit originally wanted to be a pharmacist, but changed her mind when as a young woman she first found a job as a room service attendant with the Oberoi hotel group.
Daljit says the UniSA/Le Cordon Bleu degree has further honed her business nous.
"It gives you a more strategic approach to business management and people management," she says. "The program encourages you to look at business more holistically."
And while juggling study with a hectic work schedule and family commitments has kept her very busy of late, Daljit has no intention of resting on her laurels, and is even considering more study.
"I'll probably celebrate my graduation over some drinks with friends, but part of my celebration is thinking about what I will do next," she says. "I'm considering continuing with study and doing some research - either a PhD or DBA. I've always wanted to study academically - I love to be challenged and it keeps me young."
Daljit Rao can be contacted on 0439 684 798.
Inspiring story of the CEO who left school at 14
Peter Burgoyne will celebrate kicking one mighty goal this Thursday when he graduates with a Master of Arts in Aboriginal Studies from UniSA.
Burgoyne – who shares his name with his Port Power footballer son – has overcome extraordinary adversity in his life to get to where he is now, CEO of the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Community Council.
Born in Kooniba (a small Aboriginal community near Ceduna) in the 1950s, Burgoyne grew up in a time of recession when Aborigines were not even considered citizens by the government.
"I was educated in Port Lincoln until I left school aged 14 to start work in the abattoir," he says. "Times were very hard and rough but as a family we were always committed to supporting one another, through government scrutiny, racism and ignorance, and still managed to hold onto our dignity and cultural values."
Over the years Burgoyne has worked in a range of jobs, from railway fettler, to alcohol field officer, to state director for Indigenous and public health for the federal government. He first took up study 17 years ago at the age of 36 – this latest qualification adding to a ‘trophy cabinet’ that already includes a Diploma in Management and a Bachelor of Arts.
Burgoyne says his Masters studies (which he did through UniSA’s Aboriginal and Islander Support Unit in Port Lincoln) taught him a lot about "management ethics and principles, and how these fit – or don’t fit – in the context of Indigenous communities’ and organisations’ needs". And he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of further study – probably a PhD by research.
"My wife Gabriella has a teaching degree, and we have always encouraged our children to value education," he says, adding that Peter junior is currently completing a diploma in aquaculture, with his other son Shaun recently completing his SACE.
"As an Indigenous person, through all the hardship our family confronted, I would like to acknowledge my grandmother’s influence on my outlook on life, and that was to respect and always treat people on face value and not on their race, the colour of their skin, religion or sexual preference," he says.
Peter Burgoyne can be contacted on 0429 826 677
What: UniSA graduations
Where: Adelaide Festival Centre
When: Wednesday, September 1, 3.00pm, and Thursday September 2 at
10.30am and 3.00pm.
Guest speakers: Sept 1 - Linda MacAuley-Clark (managing director of
einstein da vinci and company) Sept 2 AM: Kate Lennon (chief executive,
Department for Families and Communities) Sept 2 PM: Catherine Miller
(2003 Telstra Businesswoman of the Year – SA)
Media contact
Charlotte Knottenbelt, media officer, UniSA ph: (08) 8302 0578 mobile 0439 807 004 email charlotte.knottenbelt@unisa.edu.au