Lumen Autumn 2025 - Flipbook - Page 44
Giving
A legacy
across time
The enduring impact of philanthropy
By Claire Bowman
Our donors of the past would surely be amazed to see their gifts
continuing to have impact a century or more later. Today’s
University campus, and some of the subjects taught here, might
be completely unfamiliar to them, yet their gifts continue to
connect the past with the present, and the future we’re building.
Gifts made throughout our 150-year history have bridged the
distance of lifetimes and spanned academic disciplines. They
continue to uplift our community, to create opportunities for
deserving students, and to enable world-class research.
One example of inter-generational impact is the Angas Civil
Engineering Scholarship, which was the University’s first ever
philanthropic scholarship, established in 1878. The Honourable
John Howard Angas (an early South Australian politician,
pastoralist and philanthropist), who made an endowment of
£4,000 for this purpose, has now been supporting aspiring
engineers for nearly 150 years.
In 2024, Joseph De Rosa was awarded this Scholarship. Joseph
says this “incredible foresight and generosity” has been significant
to his studies of a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil) with
a Bachelor of Finance and Banking. “It has provided not only
financial support but also a significant boost to my motivation.
Knowing that I have been entrusted with such a prestigious and
longstanding scholarship has inspired me to dedicate myself fully to
my studies and work harder than ever. I feel honoured to be part of
that history.”
Often, legacy donors have experienced first-hand the change that
education brought to their own lives and wish to change the lives
of others in turn. When Veronika Sacco came to Australia from
Hungary, she was already academically talented and spoke seven
languages. However, as a newly arrived single mother, she had a
challenging path ahead. She sold soap door-to-door until, with
considerable force of will, she put herself through an accountancy
qualification and dramatically altered the course of her own life.
Upon her death in 2010, at 94 years old, she left a large bequest to
the University of Adelaide’s Florey Research Foundation.
Another example of the past continuing to have impact upon the
present is the Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund, part of the legacy
of two Australian aviation icons: Captain Sir Ross Smith KBE MC
DFC AFC and his brother Lieutenant Sir Keith Smith KBE.
The Smith brothers won the famous Great Air Race in 1919,
successfully completing the first flight between England and
Australia in fewer than 30 days, an incredible feat at the time. This
trip, made in a Vickers Vimy two-engine former bomber, pushed
the limits of what was possible in early aviation. Today, the Sir Ross
and Sir Keith Smith Fund (established in 1986 by Lady Anita
Smith, Keith’s widow) helps to remove financial barriers for
engineering students and enables them to continue reimagining
what is possible in air and space travel.
The Veronika Sacco Clinical Research Fellowship now enables
vital cancer research. It creates a chain of positive effects: firstly,
with an immediate benefit for young researchers; and secondly, for
cancer patients in the future whose prognosis may be improved
through new research.
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