From the Vice-Chancellor

It's always refreshing to learn what our alumni have been doing since graduating from the University of Adelaide, and some recent experiences of mine have further underlined the contribution they are making not only locally, but across the country and the region.

In March I travelled to Malaysia and Hong Kong to attend our annual offshore graduation ceremonies held in those countries, as well as attending various alumni-related events, including a visit to Sarawak. In both of those countries I was impressed by the level of enthusiasm that was shown by graduates of the university. This enthusiasm was expressed equally by those who had only just graduated, and by those who had graduated anywhere up to 50 years ago. The Chancellor, the Honourable John von Doussa QC, attended similar functions in Singapore and reported similar sentiments. Such a sense of connection and engagement with the university is irreplaceable.

In April, along with the Premier, Mr Mike Rann, and the Vice-Chancellors of the other two South Australian universities, I attended functions hosted by the State Government in Melbourne and Sydney for alumni of all three local universities. While the aim of these functions was to inform these alumni of the benefits of returning to work and live in South Australia, what they suggested to me was how mobile our alumni are within Australia. The attendance for the Melbourne event was 500, and for Sydney between 400 to 500. While these numbers represent graduates from all three universities, a significant proportion of them were from Adelaide and many of them, again, expressed to me their enthusiasm and affection for their university.

Both here and overseas, our graduates are playing major roles in the societies in which they live, and these recent events only serve to reinforce this. Such events also highlight the strength of our alumni networks in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, and I congratulate the many people involved in these networks for the time and effort they give back to the university. I strongly encourage all of our graduates to stay involved with the university, as we like to know what you have been doing, just as you like to know what the university has been doing. It is a relationship that can only benefit both of us.

JAMES A. McWHA
Vice-Chancellor