| Pictured at the Celebrating Community function are (l to r) UOW Chanc... Pictured at the Celebrating Community function are (l to r) UOW Chancellor, Mr Michael Codd AC; President of the Illawarra Cancer Carers, Mr John Morris; former President of the Illawarra Cancer Carers, Mr Rex Saunders; Alumni award-winner, Mr Paul Wand and UOW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerard Sutton |
Chancellor announces inaugural community service award winners
15 Oct 2007 | Renee Criddle
Almost 150 people attended a ‘Celebrating Community’ event held at the University of Wollongong by Chancellor Mr Michael Codd, AC, last week (Friday 12 October) where he announced the winners of the 2007 Chancellor’s Awards for Achievement in Community Service.
The awards recognise the many and varied ways people are acting to support the University and the community. For instance, those people working to create opportunities for students to combine learning and community services through internships or participating in community involvement projects; those creating new research and consultation opportunities and those acquiring grant funds or other acquisitions for the University.
“The University has a special relationship with its community,” said Mr Codd during his presentation. “Even before becoming Chancellor here, I had already heard that UOW was the best in the country for maintaining its strong linkages to the community.”
There were two award categories, each carrying a monetary prize of $2,000 – one for alumni (graduates) of UOW and one for general community members or groups.
The alumni winner was Mr Paul Wand who received the award for his significant long-term commitment and contribution to disadvantaged Indigenous communities across Australia. During his career in mining and manufacturing, he has been regarded as one of the country’s pioneers in the field of assisting organisations to build respectful and mutually beneficial relations with Aboriginal communities across Australia, and to meet their corporate responsibilities in this sensitive area. Mr Wand said he would be donating his prize money to UOW’s Woolyungah Indigenous Centre.
The community winner was Illawarra Cancer Carers – a group of committed volunteers that have been working tirelessly to support cancer patients and their families in the Illawarra since 1991. Since 2005 the group has donated more than $270,000 to the University of Wollongong, allowing researchers to make significant progress and advancements in the search for an effective formulation for anti-cancer therapy.
Mr Codd made mention of the quality of all the award nominees and said that the selection panel was extremely impressed by the level of commitment being shown to the community by UOW’s graduates.
Mr Codd also paid tribute to the range of alumni volunteers that continue to dedicate their time to the Science Centre and Planetarium, Graduate School of Medicine, Alumni Bookshop, mentoring activities, advisory committees, research teams and as guest speakers.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerard Sutton, praised the two winners for their efforts and also commended everybody at the function for contributing in some way to his or her community.
“We have a community of giving that is very prevalent in the region,” he said.
“These awards are a wonderful initiative of the Chancellor and the UOW Council and give some structure and formalisation to what has been a reality since UOW was established and started making very strong links with its community.”
“We make a great team.”
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