| US Ambassador Robert McCallum meets students during his visit to UOW US Ambassador Robert McCallum meets students during his visit to UOW | 
| US Ambassador Robert McCallum, his wife Mimi and UOW Vice-Chancellor ... US Ambassador Robert McCallum, his wife Mimi and UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton, surrounded by students who met the Ambassador during his visit to UOW | 
| (From left) Senator Connie Fierravanti-Wells, Mrs Mimi McCallum, US A... (From left) Senator Connie Fierravanti-Wells, Mrs Mimi McCallum, US Ambassador Robert McCallum, Member for Throsby Jennie George and Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton pictured at the University on 1 May |
US Ambassador praises crime prevention centre’s contribution
1 May 2008 | Nick Hartgerink
United States Ambassador to Australia Robert McCallum praised the University of Wollongong for its contribution to the fight against transnational crime during a visit to the UOW Campus today (1 May).
Mr McCallum and his wife Mimi visited UOW for meetings with Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton and senior staff from UOW’s Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention (CTCP).
The Ambassador also met with student representatives, including Study Abroad and International Exchange students from the US.
“Wollongong has a lot of overseas students, including 300 from the United States, so I took the opportunity to come here to interact with some of those students and broaden my knowledge of Australian universities generally,” Mr McCallum said. “I also wanted a general appreciation of the academic opportunities that exist in Australia for US students.”
He said UOW had a reputation as one of Australia’s leading research universities, so he had also wanted to acquaint himself with some of its programs. He was particularly interested in the activities of the CTCP.
“Transnational crime covers a range of issues – money laundering, human trafficking, drug trafficking, piracy and smuggling, especially of weapons for terrorists,” Mr McCallum said. “The University of Wollongong is putting significant intellectual firepower into finding solutions for these problems (through CTCP).
“The centre is having an impact on government crime-fighting policies around the world by providing information, statistics and analysis. This is very significant on a global basis, not just on a regional basis.”
During his meeting with students Mr McCallum drew on his own experience of international study in England to encourage students to participate in student exchange programs so they could experience other cultures and see the world (and their own country) from a different perspective.
The Ambassador, who studied law at Yale and spent three years at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship from 1969 to 1971, said exchanges were experiences that lasted a lifetime for the individuals involved, while also helping to build inter-country understanding.
“When you are talking about the threads that bind the fabric of our two countries (the US and Australia), I think academic exchange is one of the most important,” he said.
In his discussions with students, Mr McCallum described his career path from lawyer in Georgia to senior federal government law officer in Washington, before President George W Bush asked him to take on the Ambassador’s role in 2006.
UOW Bachelor of Arts (Politics) student Matthew Moffitt, who is considering a career in the Australian diplomatic service, said he had found the Ambassador’s presentation very interesting.
“As I am aspiring to be a diplomat, the best thing for me was seeing in person someone in a high position and hearing that (becoming an ambassador) is achievable,” he said.
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