Looking back on their rewarding careers, husband and wife team Professor Lawrence (Lawry) and Dr Pamela (Pam) St Leger decided they would encourage the next generation of researchers as best they could.
The retired academics made the decision to leave a significant bequest in their Wills for the creation of the Lawrence and Pamela St Leger PhD Scholarship, which will support Doctoral and masters students in Deakin’s Faculty of Health for an incredible three decades.
'When we were thinking about our Wills, we’re both passionate about education and wanted to support people in areas of our own expertise,' explains Lawry, who has a long-standing connection to Deakin as former Dean of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences.
'We don’t have children, so we were looking at what would be a good legacy with the resources we have and be of the highest impact,' adds Pam, who commenced her career in secondary education, before moving to the University of Melbourne where she was an expert in qualitative evaluation.
Having both worked extensively with graduate students, the St Legers are keenly aware of how important it is for emerging researchers to be able to focus solely on their studies.
'We’d come across some research that said the catalyst for better outcomes for students was being supported so they didn’t have to work part-time. So that’s what drove our decision initially,' Pam says.
We both did our doctoral studies as part-time, mature-age students over many years and we often found it difficult to balance study with jobs, work life and social life.
Professor Lawrence
For the St Legers, the bequest is not only about providing financial support, but facilitating vital research that can make a lasting difference to the wider community.
They’ve been able to be strategic with their gift, working with Deakin to designate areas for support that align with their own areas of expertise and interest – namely the fields of public health and health promotion relating to population groups and disadvantage.
In fact, the couple decided they wouldn’t wait for their bequest to transform lives; they jumpstarted the scholarship as a 'living gift', and it was offered for the first time in 2020. The inaugural recipient is PhD candidate Bonnie Beasant, who is exploring health literacy, the prevention of noncommunicable diseases and removing systemic barriers to good health.
The St Legers freely admit that they get just as much out of gifting their support as the recipients and on various levels.
'Both of us being academics and in retirement, we’re investing in something that gives us a little bit of joy and intellectual stimulation,' says Pam, adding that they’ve also been able to be involved in meetings with the current scholarship recipient, as 'critical friends' who can offer advice.
'This is where you’re not responsible for the oversight of the PhD study but you’re there to provide ideas, and that’s been an involvement that’s been really terrific,' Lawry says.
Lawry and Pam said the journey to create their bequest had been a learning process made easier by the expertise and knowledge of the team at Deakin.
'We got to know other people who are donors to the University and a lot of them are passionate about a particular area, like us,' Pam says.
'The people at Deakin didn’t try to direct us in one way or another; they actually listened very carefully. So if you have a passion about something, have a conversation with them about what your interests are and what you want to do with your legacy.'
Interested in finding out more?
Leave a lasting legacy that will provide educational opportunity for future students and support vital research that transforms lives and communities. If you are considering leaving a gift in your Will to Deakin, email our Advancement Team or phone +61 3 9244 5150.