President and Vice-Chancellor's Message

Welcome to this September edition of dKin Times.  

On our side of the world, spring is finally here bringing with it the promise of warmer weather and longer days. Earlier this month I had a reminder of the colder weather when I met with Deakin’s UK Alumni Chapter for an event in London where the weather is just beginning to cool down for autumn.  It was a fabulous event with guest speaker Matt Anderson PSM, the Acting High Commissioner in London who is a Deakin alum!

Our UK Alumni Chapter only launched last year, has already grown from strength to strength thanks to its hard working committee members.

Deakin’s alumni are the best evidence of its success and we are enormously proud of the Deakin diaspora – an international footprint of excellence with global leaders and innovators, each in different ways, in different parts of the world and in different fields of endeavour making a significant contribution to their professions and to their communities.

For a taste of international Deakin in Geelong, I invite alumni from Victoria, and your families to join us as Deakin celebrates the Hindu festival Diwali at our Waterfront Campus on 20 October. It’s a fabulous event with market stalls, dance and musical performances and children’s activities – culminating with a spectacular fireworks display on the Foreshore.

This month we welcome Professor Jenni Lightowlers as the Dean of the Deakin Law School. Professor Lightowlers is one of Australia’s leading and most respected lawyers in the field of innovation and commercialisation, and brings to the role a wealth of legal and corporate expertise. She knows Deakin well, having been appointed to Council in 2004 and serving as Deakin’s Deputy Chancellor for seven years (retiring from Council in 2015). Her own story of studying law while juggling the responsibilities of work and a young family is quite inspirational.

This month’s newsletter is an excellent read. I particularly enjoyed the story of VC Scholarship winner Akash Punjabi. His story is a valuable reminder of the power of scholarships to change lives.

Remember that as alumni, you and your families may be eligible for a 10% postgraduate bursary with information about the bursaries available on the alumni website.

Enjoy this month’s dKin… and do keep in touch with us.

Jane den Hollander AO
President and Vice-Chancellor