University salutes its Australia Day stars
Professor Roger Smith: University of Newcastle researcher Professor Roger Smith has been named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2013 Australia Day Honours list. Professor Roger Smith is the Co-Director of the University’s Priority Research Centre for Reproductive Science and Director of the Mothers and Babies. He also leads the Hunter Medical Research Institute‘s Pregnancy and Reproduction Program.
Professor Smith is an internationally recognised leader in the endocrinology of pre-term labour. He is also a recognised leader in the field of maternal health in Indigenous Australians.
In 2000, HMRI awarded Professor Smith the HMRI Award for Research Excellence and in 2010, he received an Exceptional Service Medal for his ongoing contribution to the organisation.
Emeritus Professor Phil Foreman: Emeritus Professor Phil Foreman was also named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for “significant service to tertiary education, particularly in the area of special education, and to people with a disability”.
Emeritus Professor Sally Redman AO: Emeritus Professor Sally Redman AO, Director of the Sax Institute, also received an award for “distinguished service to public health through leadership in the care of women with breast cancer, contributions to research and higher education and the promotion of relationships between researchers, policy makers and practitioners”.
Declan Clausen: Twenty-year-old environmental engineering and science student Declan Clausen was named Newcastle’s ‘Young Citizen of the Year’.
Mr Clausen has made an outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability, instigating and driving countless projects and lobbying government groups to address environmental concerns in the Hunter region. He has also represented Newcastle at the Members and Senators Climate Change Commission Forum at Parliament House in Canberra at the invitation of The Hon Greg Combet AM MP; helped the Newcastle Catholic Education office with the design of the environmental program for catholic primary and high schools in the Newcastle and Maitland areas; and sat on the University of Newcastle’s committee on environmental sustainability.
Andreena Kardamis: Nineteen-year-old business and law student Andreena Kardamis was named Lake Macquarie’s ‘Young Citizen of the Year’.
Miss Kardamis is the driving force behind the Lake Macquarie Youth Advisory Council where she is currently serving her second year as Chair.
She was selected as a member of the NSW Youth Parliament, and filling the roles of Shadow Attorney General and Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, she developed a petition for placing life mentors and coaches in schools.
Miss Kardamis has since worked with Lake Macquarie Youth Development Officer Bradley Dunn to implement a life mentors and coaches program in the Lake Macquarie area.