Swinburne confers new honorary positions as it turns 30 years young

Friday 1 July 2022 marks 30 years since Swinburne University of Technology gained university status. As part of the celebrations, Chancellor Professor John Pollaers OAM has conferred the new honorary title of Chancellor’s Fellow on three key outgoing members of the University’s Council.

Andrew Dix, Vi Peterson, and Renee Roberts — all retiring from Council on 30 June 2022 — have each received the new title of Chancellor’s Fellow, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to Swinburne.  The honours were conferred last night in Melbourne at a celebratory gathering where Professor Pollaers spoke to alumni, industry representatives, donors, and Swinburne staff past and present.

“The role that Council members play is significant,” Professor Pollaers said. 

“Aside from the overall governance, management, and strategic direction responsibilities we have as a Council, we are also responsible for delivering accountable performance in accordance with Swinburne’s goals and objectives. As Council members, Andrew, Vi and Renee have all helped steer the Swinburne ship and set our course to continue to deliver for our students, our staff, our industry partners and the broader community.”

30 Years Young

To celebrate its milestone, Swinburne has launched a new campaign titled ‘30 Years Young’, which honours the past while exploring what higher education will look like in 2052. Anchored by a 30 Years Young Hub, the campaign showcases Swinburne’s vibrant past, present, and future with 30 inspiring stories. Through its talented team of innovators and futurists, Swinburne predicts courses with augmented reality, gamification study, artificial intelligence, and virtual teachers will be key features at most universities by 2052, as we continue to be immersed in a tech-driven workforce.

Back to the future, and in 2022 for the first time in two years Swinburne will host an in-person Open Day on Sunday 31 July. Prospective students, their families and friends can meet Swinburne’s best and brightest, experience the innovation and technology in person, wander the corridors and classrooms, and get a feel for what study at a next generation university is like.  Register at: https://www.swinburne.edu.au/openday/

While Swinburne is turning 30 years young as a university, it has been providing the transformative power of education since it was founded by George and Ethel Swinburne in 1908.  It continues to build itself to be the prototype of a new and different university, with people and technology working together to build a better world.