Jump to Content

Media Release

March 31 2008

UniSA graduates take centre stage to celebrate their success

UniSA graduatesMore than 3,000 graduands from the University of South Australia will take centre stage this week at special graduation ceremonies being held in the Adelaide Festival Centre from Monday March 31 to Friday April 4 2008.

Highlights of the week will include the awarding of Emeritus Professor – to retiring UniSA Pro Vice Chancellor, Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Michael Rowan; Fellow of the University – to General Manager, Sustainability Initiatives, Lend Lease Communities, Kelvin Trimper; and Doctor of the University – Managing Director of Issues Deliberation Australia/Issues Deliberation America, and founder of Psychology Without Borders, Dr Pamela Ryan.

Graduate success stories this year include the winner of the Ian Davey Research Thesis Prize for the most outstanding PhD thesis; the first cohort of students to graduate with a Bachelor of Media Arts degree; and the first UniSA qualified Vietnamese-Australian female pilot to take to the skies.

A graduation ceremony at the Middleback Theatre in Whyalla on April 11 will celebrate the success of a further 78 graduands from the University’s regional campus.

Schedule of graduation ceremonies

Monday 31 March 2008 – 3 pm
Graduations for Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment, Institute for Telecommunications Research, Ian Wark Research Institute
Fellow of the University award and Guest speaker – Mr Kelvin Trimper, General Manager Sustainability Initiatives, Lend Lease Communities

Tuesday 1 April 2008 – 10:30am
Graduations for School of Health Sciences
Guest speaker – Mr Ian Hardy, Chief Executive, Helping Hand Aged Care, South Australia

Tuesday 1 April 2008 – 3 pm
Graduations for School of Nursing and Midwifery, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences
Guest speaker – Dr Bill Grigg AM, Director, Trauma Service, Royal Adelaide Hospital

Wednesday 2 April 2008 – 10:30am
Graduations for International Graduate School of Business and School of Marketing
Guest speaker – Ms Judy Curran, Chief Executive, Spastic Centres of South Australia (SCOSA)

Wednesday 2 April 2008 – 3 pm
Graduations for School of Commerce, School of Management
Guest speaker – Mr Hutch Ranck, Managing Director, DuPont Australia and New Zealand and Group Managing Director for DuPont operations in ASEAN

Thursday 3 April 2008 – 10:30am
Graduations for School of Communication, School of International Studies, School of Psychology
Honorary Doctorate award and Guest speaker – Dr Pamela Ryan, Managing Director, Issues Deliberation Australia/Issues Deliberation America

Thursday 3 April 2008 – 3 pm
Graduations for Louis Laybourne-Smith School of Architecture and Design, School of Social Work and Social Policy, Unaipon School, South Australian School of Art
Guest Speaker – Mr Mark Warren, State General Manager, Optus, South Australia

Friday 4 April 2008 – 10:30am
Graduations for School of Education
Emeritus Professor and Guest speaker - Professor Michael Rowan, Pro Vice Chancellor, Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences, UniSA

Graduation highlights 31 March – 3 pm

Mr Kelvin Trimper works nationally with State and local governments, business leaders and education providers to ensure that approaches adopted by Lend Lease in its development of projects Australia-wide have a strong sustainability factor, especially in education planning and community development.
Trimper joined Delfin Limited in 1987 after spending 12 years with the Education Department of SA and was instrumental in establishing Delfin's leadership in the provision of education services in Delfin's communities. He played a key role as Project Director in winning and establishing the mixed-use Mawson Lakes (formerly MFP) project in Adelaide.
Trimper is a past President and a Fellow of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (SA Division), past Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Botanic Gardens of SA, and a City of Salisbury “Living Legend”.

*     *     *
UniSA’s first qualified Vietnamese-Australian pilot, Debra Tran began studying a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2003 but, despite her physical presence in classes, her mind and spirit wondered beyond the realms of business studies to where her aspirations really were, to be soaring high in the sky with the world at her feet and the freedom to enjoy nature’s tranquillity at its best.
Tran’s career turning point began when she came across a group of UniSA aviation students who looked as though they were enjoying the university lifestyle that Tran had always dreamed of.
Despite early reservations from Tran’s family regarding the non-traditional career path that she had chosen, Tran transferred to aviation and thoroughly enjoyed her learning and practical experiences to become the first qualified Vietnamese female pilot in Australia.
“From my positive learning experiences at UniSA Aviation, together with the success and personal achievements I have gained, I am a strong ambassador for the aviation industry and will continue to encourage and promote this career path to all students wherever I may land,” Tran said.

Media contact

top^