During its annual Alumni Awards Ceremony last week, Macquarie University honoured three distinguished members of its alumni - Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon APM, former managing director of Cochlear and Chairperson of CSIRO Catherine Livingstone, and Executive Producer of the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge and founder of the Croc Festival Peter Sjoquist AM. The awards were presented by Macquarie University Chancellor Maurice Newman AC as part of the Standing Committee of Convocation and the Alumni Office's scholarship and prize giving ceremony.
Livingstone and Sjoquist are both graduates from the Division of Economic and Financial Studies (EFS).
A summary of the citations for the Macquarie University Alumni Awards for Distinguished Service follows below:
Christine Nixon APM
With her appointment in 2001 as Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Nixon became Australia's first woman chief commissioner of police. Prior to that she was a police officer for more than 30 years, during which time she worked in some of the most dangerous and difficult areas of policing. As Chief Commissioner she has faced challenges relating to police corruption in Victoria and an underworld crime wave. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University, a Diploma of Labour Law from the University of Sydney, a Masters of Public Relations from Harvard University, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Wollongong University.
Catherine Livingstone
| After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting with First Class Honours from Macquarie University, Livingston spent several years with Price Waterhouse in the Sydney and London offices. She then moved to Nucleus Limited before being appointed Managing Director of Cochlear Pty Ltd in 1994 where she remained until 2000 after growing the company to an internationally successful organisation. She was awarded the Chartered Accountants in Business Award in 2000, a Centenary Medal in 2003 and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2002. She has served on the Boards of many major Australian companies, including Goodman Fielder, Rural Press, Macquarie Bank, and Telstra Corporation. She is also a member of the advisory board of Macquarie's Department of Accounting and Finance. |
The Dean with Catherine Livingstone and the Chancellor
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Peter Sjoquist AM
A Macquarie University Bachelor of Economics graduate, Sjoquist spent more than 20 years in television and movie production before turning his talents to the Rock Challenge - a performing arts showcase for young people in Australian schools. From humble beginnings in 1988 the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge now involves around 50,000 school students around Australia each year. In 1998 Sjoquist launched the Croc Festival which promotes positive and healthy lifestyle messages for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in rural and remote areas of Australia. A three-year study substantiated the long-held belief that the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge is a successful youth intervention program with a positive impact on the students who take part. Sjoquist's outstanding youth community work has been recognised with such awards as Social Entrepreneur of the Year, the Centenary Medal and a Membership of the Order of Australia.
Other awards presented during the evening included eight alumni prizes, a range of outstanding student performance prizes, awards for meritorious performance, and four scholarships supported by the University's alumni.
Read more on the alumni evening in the Macquarie Globe.
Division students recognised for academic excellence
Three Division of EFS students received awards for their outstanding academic achievements.
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Yin Jie Wang
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The Dean with Yin Jie Wang
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The Dean with Chen Jie Lu and her mother
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Nobuko Forrest
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The Dean with Nobuko Forrest
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Contact: Skaidy Gulbis
Phone: 9850 4774
