Six prominent Australians have been recognised by QUT with Honorary Doctorates for their exceptional service to the community and to the university.
The Hon Chief Justice Helen Bowskill, Emeritus Professor Sandra Lee Harding AO, Jenny Parker, Leigh Peta Sales AM, Else Shepherd AM and Kerry Williams were all awarded.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil said awarding Honorary Doctorates acknowledged the recipients’ contributions to QUT and formalised the relationship between them and the university.
“We appreciate the achievements and contributions of the recipients of our Honorary Doctorates and acknowledge how much QUT has benefitted from their work,” Professor Sheil said.
The Honourable Chief Justice Helen Bowskill was awarded for service to the Queensland national judiciary over her 25-year law career.
She joined QUT as a legal secretary studying law part-time at QUT and graduated with a University Medal in 1995. She went on to become a barrister of the Supreme Court in Queensland in 1998 was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2013.
During this time, her Honour pursued a special focus on native title law and is recognised as having performed a significant role in achieving social justice for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Chief Justice Bowskill was appointed a judge of the Queensland District, Children’s and Planning and Environment Courts in 2014, and was then elevated to a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2017.
Earlier this year, her Honour was sworn in as Queensland’s 20th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, only the second woman to hold the role.
Emeritus Professor Sandra Harding AO has been awarded an honorary doctorate for service to QUT, scholarship, and the community.
She is a former member of the QUT executive team, serving as a member of the QUT Council for nine years; and retired from the post of Vice-Chancellor of James Cook University in February 2022 after 15 years in the role. She is an economic sociologist and her qualifications include a PhD in Sociology from North Carolina State University and a Bachelor of Science from the Australian ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ University. Professor Harding was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2019.
She has made important contributions toward public policy in two key areas: education policy and related areas; and the global tropics, northern Australia and economic development. She has served as Chair of Universities Australia and was the inaugural Chair of the Queensland Vice-Chancellors Committee.
Jenny Parker has been awarded an honorary doctorate for distinguished service to QUT. She is the Oceania Health and Life Sciences Leader at EY and has been a partner with Ernst and Young since 1999.
She has more than 35 years of professional services experience, and leads major governance, risk and co-sourced and outsourced internal audit functions. Through her service as a member of the QUT Council from 2012 to 2021, including as Deputy Chancellor from 2018—2021, Ms Parker leveraged her extensive governance, risk and internal audit experience to make a significant contribution to the effective governance of the university.
Ms Parker is currently chair of Brisbane Catholic Education, and serves as a member of the Boards of Mater Misericordia Limited and the Queensland Museum Network.
Leigh Sales AM has been awarded an honorary doctorate for her distinguished service to the community. She is one of Australia’s most respected journalists and authors and has been a formidable force in political journalism for more than 10 years.
She is the recipient of three Walkley Awards, and was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2019. She graduated from QUT in 1994 with a Bachelor of Business, Journalism major. Her career as a journalist was distinguished by interviewing the most senior political, public and cultural figures in Australia and overseas in her role as host of the ABC’s Lateline and 7.30 Report. Most recently she headed the ABC’s Federal Election coverage.
Trailblazing engineer Else Shepherd AM has been awarded an honorary doctorate for distinguished service to the community and QUT. Mrs Shepherd was the first woman to graduate in Electrical Engineering in Queensland. She served as Chair of Powerlink Queensland for 17 years.
Mrs Shepherd is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and has won prestigious engineering awards including the Peter Nicol Russell Medal. She was made a Queensland Great in 2022.
She is a Fellow of the Academy of Technology and Engineering and co-founded and managed two engineering companies. She was an Adjunct Professor at QUT from 2013—2021.
Kerry Williams has been awarded an honorary doctorate for distinguished service to QUT, scholarship, and the community.
Mr Williams, a QUT graduate, is the deputy chair of Engineers Australia’s Electrical College Branch in Queensland, and a Member of the Engineers Australia Electrical College ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Board. His work with professional associations embodies his passion for passing on his knowledge for student and graduate learning.
In 2016, he established K-BIK Power and through his business supports QUT to set up engineering projects and student learning centres. This has included engaging with the university to establish the K-BIK Power Learning Potential Fund Scholarship that gives underprivileged students access to funds to support their study. More recently he has provided an additional three-year scholarship for a young, disadvantaged student to undertake a PhD within the QUT School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics.
