Lumen Summer 2015 - Flipbook - Page 32
University in the news
Turning of the sod
The start of construction of the new $206
million Medical and Nursing School building
was marked by the turning of the first sod
ceremony on 12 August. The occasion
brought together alumnus Jay Weatherill,
Premier of South Australia, alumnus
Senator Simon Birmingham, representing
the Federal Government, Kate Ellis,
Member for Adelaide, and staff and
students of the University of Adelaide.
When completed, the 13-storey building
will give the University of Adelaide the largest
research presence in the State’s Health
and Biomedical Precinct at the West End.
Inaugural lectures revive
a proud tradition
2014 saw the reintroduction of inaugural
lectures to mark the University’s 140th
anniversary. Delivered by newly appointed
or promoted professors, many of them
alumni, the lectures are a celebration of
the finest of our academic leaders.
Podcasts of all the lectures can be
found at www.bit.ly/1xpBDg6
Julia Gillard tells her story
At a special event in Bonython Hall on 2
October, alumna Julia Gillard promoted
her new book My Story. In her memoir,
Julia chronicles her turbulent time as
Australia’s first female Prime Minister – a
strikingly candid self-portrait of a political
leader seeking to realise her ideals.
Prime Minister Tony
Abbott presents Sir John
Downer Oration
Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivered the
second biennial Sir John Downer Oration
on 21 August to an audience of over 400
alumni, staff and guests.
The Oration was created to honour the
remarkable Sir John Downer, a South
Australian who helped shape Australia’s
political transformation from a group of
colonies to the modern federal nation.
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30 Lumen | Summer 2015
New Governor acknowledges
the University in his success
South Australia’s newest Governor
Hieu Van Le acknowledged the role the
University of Adelaide played in helping
him achieve his goals.
At a reception to congratulate him on his
appointment, he spoke about arriving in
Australia as a refugee in 1977. “When
I arrived in Australia I had nothing but
an invisible suitcase filled with dreams.
Studying at the University helped me
to unpack that suitcase and realise my
dreams,” Mr Le said.
One of his priorities as Governor will
be to promote South Australia as a
destination for higher education.
University of Adelaide
scores international
rankings hat-trick
The University of Adelaide has powered
up the international ranking tables in
2014, with dramatic results in all three of
the leading global rankings.
The release of the Times Higher Education
rankings in October has Adelaide up 40
places to 164. It is the largest rise of any
elite Australian university.
This follows the Academic Ranking of
World Universities (produced by the
Shanghai Jiao Tong University) released
in July, which placed the University of
Adelaide in the top 200, and the QS
rankings, released in September, which
recognised Adelaide in the top 100.
