The gift of education: UON to honour generous international donors at event

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

On October 22 the University of Newcastle (UON) will honour a generous group of Singapore alumni who have donated more than $900,000 to fund multiple scholarships to support UON students in the last seven years.

Dr TAN Chin Nam
Dr TAN Chin Nam

More than 30 alumni and partners are travelling from Singapore to take part in the 50th Anniversary Alumni Homecoming festivities, and will be recognised for their support by UON Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Caroline McMillen, at a special lunch at the UON Great Hall, Callaghan campus, on Thursday October 22 from 12noon.

The combined generosity of this group of donors has enabled the establishment of perpetual scholarship funds which have already supported more than 30 Australian students to date, some of whom will attend the lunch.

This represents a unique and rare opportunity for our Singapore alumni to meet with scholarship recipients to hear firsthand the impact of their support, celebrate the students' achievements and be thanked.

A highlight for these celebrations will be the launch of a new fund supported through the generosity of a Singapore alumnus, Dr TAN Chin Nam and his wife, Mrs Colleen Tan.

The Dr TAN Chin Nam and Colleen Excellence Fund will initially be dedicated to support the Excellence in Innovation Award to support, recognise and encourage original thinkers who demonstrate an impactful contribution to innovation in the field of their choice. Each year the award will benefit one Honours student who demonstrates original and creative research within their discipline.

As a student at UON under the Colombo Plan Scholarship program, Dr Tan completed a Bachelor of Engineering in 1973 and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) in 1974. He received an honorary doctorate from UON in 1998 for his high profile professional endeavours in Singapore, and his continuing contributions and expertise to the development of the strong relationship between Singapore and Australia. 

Mrs Tan has always had an interest in and love of the arts and community endeavours. Giving up her professional career in advertising and marketing to raise her family, Mrs Tan realised she had a real passion for calligraphy and Chinese brush painting. She now works as a artist and contributes significantly to her community.

The event in honour of the donors will take place at 12pm, Thursday 22 October in the Great Hall foyer, Callaghan campus.


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