An AFLW star, Hollywood animator and renowned public affairs journalist are among those recognised at this year’s QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards.
Presented their awards at a ceremony last night, the 16 high achievers have made their mark across various fields, from finance and aged care to First Nations and disability advocacy, sports, and community leadership.
QUT Chancellor Ann Sherry AO welcomed more than 100 guests to the 33rd award ceremony, with recipients attending from as far as San Francisco in America.
"This is a great reminder of what's possible which, as a student, you never know," Ms Sherry said. "You imagine that you can do great things and imagine that you are going to change the world … and then some people just get on and do it in very different ways."
The alumni told the story of a university with its eye on the future, that supports disadvantaged students to succeed through Australia's largest Learning Potential Fund and focuses on work integrated learning opportunities to inspire career ambition.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil AO said she was both proud and humbled by the calibre of alumni celebrated through the award program.
"Proud because I have the opportunity to lead this extraordinary institution and humbled by all your collective achievements," Professor Sheil said.
2024 QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards
Ally Anderson, AFLW star
2024 QUT Outstanding Sports Alumnus Award
Brisbane Lions
“I would like to be remembered as one of the trailblazers of AFLW and someone who really set the standard in women’s sport and led the way for other young girls and young Indigenous girls coming through.”
Chiou See Anderson, Women in business advocate
2024 QUT Outstanding Alumnus Award
Elements Retirement Living
“Balancing leadership roles at state, national and international levels offered me a unique vantage point to appreciate the power of advocacy. Women need to contribute towards issues they feel passionate about, either through volunteering or staking a claim in a private and public leadership role. Unless women are at the negotiation table, the power imbalance will persist.”
Chris Fechner, Digital transformation specialist
2024 QUT Outstanding Alumnus Award
Digital Transformation Agency
“The work we’ve done in the DTA – thinking about strategy, thinking about evaluation – will be very important. In the end, the government is here to improve the amenity of society and digital is the way we’re going to accelerate that.”
Dr David Morton and Nicholas Paine, Design-led theatre
2024 QUT Outstanding Entrepreneurial Alumnus Award
Dead Puppet Society
“We became obsessed with modes of storytelling in live performance. We wanted to sort of stretch the notion of what stories we could tell on stage and that was one of the major motivators for why we created the company.”
Elisa Jane Carmichael, First Nations art
2024 QUT Outstanding Young Alumnus Award
Ngugi artist
“When people view my art, I hope that they take away a deep sense of caring for Country, learning more about our history as First Nations peoples, the importance of our culture and place in this Country. Representing my culture in my work is just a part of who I am and a part of who we are.”
Ellen Fanning, Renowned journalist
2024 Outstanding Alumnus Award
ABC
“It’s very satisfying but it also makes a profound difference to the communities that you’re reporting on. I always get the same feeling every time something goes to air. It’s a rush of pride and humility at the same time. You’re humbled by the fact that it could come together and the power of it.”
Hayley Fox, Access to justice advocate
2024 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award
Legal Aid Queensland
“The thing I love the most about my job is meeting different people, hearing their stories, and learning about where they come from, what their lives have looked like and how they’re different to mine. There are a lot of deep-rooted, generational and traumatic issues that cause criminal offending, and I would like to be the person that helps make a difference.”
James Bennett, Visual storyteller
2024 QUT Outstanding Alumnus Award
Shomen Productions
“My legacy really at this stage moving forward is all about helping others, utilising my expertise and experience. Working for yourself is great but when you know that what you’ve done has contributed to someone else’s success, there’s nothing better than that.”
Jude Coleman, Cricket legend
2024 QUT Outstanding Sports Alumnus Award
Tasmanian Tigers and Hobart Hurricanes
“There’s been huge changes in women’s sport since I started. I remember part of the first team I ever played in, one of the girls won player of the match and she won a toaster. The men would get prize money, the women would get household products.”
Leah Lang, Architect and design leader
2024 QUT Outstanding Alumnus Award
Queensland Government
“To think that now I’ll be assisting to set the vision and objectives for the design of the infrastructure for an Olympics Games, which is almost four times the scale of a Commonwealth Games, is fascinating and a very exciting prospect.”
Michael Pini, Disability advocate
2024 Outstanding Alumnus Award
Australian Taxation Office
“My main inspiration behind advocacy work is to educate the next generation of people about people with disability. I say to them, ‘I want you to leave today taking away one thing that you’ve learnt.’ I’m happy that they will then pass that message on to spread the word about issues.”
Mina Patel, Pharmaceutical leader
2024 QUT Outstanding Alumnus Award
AstraZeneca
"I arrived [in India] in 2019, my first time out of the country and my first time as a general manager. Little did I know that it would also be my first time taking a site through a pandemic – a very big pandemic. The safety of our people and our patients was critical and challenging. How we managed that is something I'm very proud of.”
Natalie Lewis, Youth justice advocate
2024 QUT Outstanding Indigenous Australian Alumnus Award
Queensland Family and Child Commission
“I hope that my legacy is one where the new narrative about our children is about their capability, their strength, their sovereignty, their connection to culture – and not just a strength personally, but an asset to this country.”
Richard McInnes, Leading sports exec
QUT Outstanding Sports Alumnus Award
Australian Sports Commission
“I see sport as a powerful vehicle to influence social change on a whole range of fronts. Society is changing and sport is something that can connect people from all different backgrounds, cultures, races, ages and geographic locations. It can create safe, welcoming, inclusive and fun environments for everyone. Everyone has a place and a role in sport if they wish to."
Wendy Zernike, Health care trailblazer
2024 QUT Outstanding Alumnus Award
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
“I was motivated to pursue executive leadership in health care because I wanted to make an impact and I felt like I could do that on a larger scale. I wanted to actually lead and assist other health care professionals to do their jobs really well and make a difference.”
Main image:
Top row (left-right): QUT Chancellor Ann Sherry, Michael Pini, Ellen Fanning, Wendy Zernike, Leah Lang, Richard McInnes, James Bennett.
Bottom row (left-right): Natalie Lewis, Hayley Fox, Mina Patel, Elisa Jane Carmichael, Chiou Lee Anderson, Chris Fechner, Ally Anderson, and QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil.
Media contact:
Lauren Baxter
QUT Media
07 3138 2361 / 0407 585 901 (After Hours)
