President and Vice-Chancellor's Message
Alumni newsWelcome to this June edition of dKin Times.
Deakin is having a good year so far. I am pleased to report that your university continues to improve its reputation – in the QS global rankings announced earlier this month, Deakin was ranked 293, up 62 places from 2016 and the biggest improver among Australian universities.
We were also successful in the latest round of Australian Research Council (ARC) funding (awarded $7.7 million). Of particular note, Alfred Deakin Professor Svetha Venkatesh (Director of the Pattern Recognition and Data Analysis Strategic Research Centre) was awarded a prestigious Australian Laureate fellowship – the highest award the ARC can bestow.
Deakin also gained its second ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub, one of only three awarded nationwide, and to be led by Professor John Grundy, Director of DSTIL. The ARC Research Hub for Digital Enhanced Living has relevance to all Australians. It will address the growing challenges of supporting the aging who are living in their own homes or residential care by inventing new, personalised medical technologies.
Our Deakin Alumni are also making a difference in the world as global leaders and innovators in their professions and communities. You are the most important evidence of Deakin’s success and our best ambassadors and you play a significant role in defining and shaping the sort of university Deakin is today and will be into the future.
It’s unsurprising that a number of Deakin Alumni and staff were recognised in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Deakin congratulates Brigadier Michael Herbert Annett, Anne Brackley, Air Commodore Russell Campbell, Brigadier Craig Furini, Professor Mohamed Khadra, Air Commodore Hayden Marshall, Dr Kevin Murfitt, Air Vice-Marshall Stephen Osborne, Hugh Seward, Karen Spiller, Lorraine Stokes and Steven Warrington.
Particular congratulations also to Dr David Morgan, a long standing member of our Council and our Chancellor for ten years. Dr Morgan received the honour in recognition of his exemplary service to the automotive industry, to Australian export strategies and service to higher education through fostering links between university and industry. David Morgan was recognised with an Honorary Doctorate from Deakin in 2016.
Read the full list of Deakin staff, alumni and friends, recognised with 2017 Queen's Birthday honours.
Enjoy a good read and keep safe where ever you are in the world.
Jane den Hollander AO
President and Vice-Chancellor