Distinguished Alumni Awards

Dr Adam Bandt is the Federal Member for Melbourne and the Leader of The Australian Greens. Dr Bandt became the first Greens MP elected to the House of Representatives at a general election when he was first elected in 2010. He retained the seat of Melbourne at the 2013 and 2016 elections.

Dr Bandt oversees the portfolios of climate change, energy, employment and science, research and innovation. Since being elected to Parliament he has worked to secure $13 billion of investment in clean energy and getting dental into Medicare for 3.4 million kids.

Professor Wendy Carlin is a world renowned economist. She is a Professor of Economics at University College London (UCL), Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and a Fellow of the European Economics Association. She is also a member of the Expert Advisory Panel for the UK Office for Budget Responsibility and a visiting professor at the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford.

Professor Carlin’s research focuses on the economic history of comparative economies, macroeconomics, institutions and economic performance, and the economics of the transition of economies from central planning to the market.

Distinguished Professor John Hartley is John Curtin Distinguished Professor and Professor of Cultural Science at Curtin University, and Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at Cardiff University. 

In 2005, Professor Hartley won an Australian Research Council (ARC) Federation Fellowship, and he was co-founder and Research Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (2005 – 2012) at QUT. This was the first Centre of Excellence in the Humanities and Creative Arts in Australia.

In 2006, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to education as an academic and commentator in the areas of journalism, culture and media studies.

Mr Chen has been the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of China (BOC) since April 2014 and the President of the bank since February 2014.

Mr Chen has a sound academic knowledge in economics and finance, as well as rich experience in commercial banking and operation management. During his 26 years at the Bank of China, he consecutively served several management roles home and abroad with professional expertise on businesses such as corporate credit, risk management, financial management, internal control and compliance.

Dr Mathew has made an outstanding contribution throughout his career as an Engineer to the field of environmentally sound technologies, applying his expertise in water supply, waste management systems and renewable energy to the improvement of living conditions in developing countries and Australian indigenous communities.

In 2015, Dr Mathew was awarded the honour Fellow of International Water Industry in recognition of his many years of service to the water industry.

Patrick McClure AO has made an outstanding contribution to civil society and social policy, especially as a leader of civil society organisations and advisor to governments in the areas of welfare reform, welfare to work, investment in early intervention services, community-business partnerships, social enterprises and social impact investment.

Mr McClure’s roles have included Chief Executive Officer of Mission Australia, and Chief Executive Officer of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (NSW/ACT).  

In 2001, he was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal for “service to the community as CEO of Mission Australia.”

Professor Jan Thomas planned to be a veterinarian and has a PhD in Veterinary Science at Murdoch University.

From 2003, Professor Thomas served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) at Murdoch University, and in 2010 was appointed DVC Research and Quality, and DVC Fremantle at the University of Notre Dame Australia. In January 2012, she became University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Vice-Chancellor and President. From 2017, Professor Thomas has been Vice-Chancellor of Massey University in New Zealand.

Tony Chong is Managing Partner Perth and Australian Head of Asia Desk at global law firm Squire Patton Boggs. He is a principal adviser to high-net worth individuals and corporate entities, specialising in mergers and acquisitions and the Asian commercial business environment.

Mr Chong is also DVG Group Board President and WACCC Senior VP, and serves on the Murdoch University Art Collection Board and the External Advisory Group to the School of Law.

He was the Asian Australian Lawyers Association ‘Senior Lawyer of the Year’ in 2019 and a winner of the Business News 40under40 Awards in 2013.

Dr Heston Kwong is Assistant Director at the Department of Health, Hong Kong Government, responsible for the emergency response to COVID-19, including quarantine, social distancing, testing, and vaccines.

He previously served as head of IT Management of the Department of Health, managing projects, establishing medical information storage systems, coordinating communications, and ensuring appropriate responses to critical incidents.

He has also led government contingency and emergency response preparedness efforts and acted as liaison between government departments during health emergencies.

Rebecca Tomkinson is CEO of Royal Flying Doctor Services WA, an iconic community organisation which provides life-saving treatment to communities across Western Australia.

Prior to her current role, Ms Tomkinson held executive positions in the finance, community and aged care sectors.

She is involved in numerous boards, including the Wheatbelt Development Commission and Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).

Ms Tomkinson is dedicated to advancing collaboration and innovation across sectors to deliver improved health, wellbeing and prosperity for all Western Australians.

To be eligible to win an Award:

• Nominees must have graduated from Murdoch University. A graduate (alumnus) of Murdoch University is defined as an individual who has completed and been awarded one or more certificate, degree, diploma or any other award prescribed by the statutes of Murdoch University.
• Nominees must demonstrate sustained and significant contributions in one or more of the following areas: professional achievement; cultural achievement or leadership; sporting achievement and/or community leadership.
• Nominees’ work, whether professional or volunteer, must demonstrate a significant positive impact that has been felt by many – locally, nationally and or internationally.
• Nominees, through prominence in their field/profession, must bring great distinction to Murdoch.
• Nominees must have achieved sustained success over their career that is noteworthy and exceptional.
• Nominees must demonstrate leadership qualities in a variety of contexts that could include volunteerism, or community work, or through their profession.
• Nominees must not be:
  • honorary degree recipients unless that individual has also completed and been awarded one or more certificate, degree, diploma or any other award prescribed by the statutes of Murdoch University; 
  • current Murdoch academic and general staff members who are more than 0.2 full time equivalent (FTE) or spouses (including de facto spouses) of current academic and general staff (who are more than 0.2 FTE) as per the 2014 Professional Staff/2014 Academic Staff agreement;
  • or a winner of a previous years’ Distinguished Alumni Awards.
• Subject to complying with all other eligibility criteria, any alumnus holding an honorary title (for example, Adjunct Professor) is eligible to be nominated, so long as they do not exceed 0.2 FTE.
• An alumnus cannot win more than one award category in any calendar year and cannot win the same award category more than once.
• Awards will not be awarded posthumously, unless otherwise determined by the University.
• Joint nominations will not be accepted.
• Any nominee who does not meet the criteria above is automatically ineligible. Ineligible nominees will be informed that they do not meet the eligibility criteria by the Alumni Relations Office.
• The final decision on the recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award program, and any changes to the program, is at the discretion of the Selection Panel and Murdoch University Leadership. 

To be selected as a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, candidates must have:

• made an outstanding contribution to their chosen field; and/or
• given outstanding service to the community; and/or
• given outstanding service to Murdoch University.