Celebrating our alumni community

Cathryn McDonald with Deputy Chancellor,
Ms Di Davidson AM Congratulations to our 2016 Alumni Medallists

Our alumni make an impact on the world — their noteworthy accomplishments benefiting both society and our University community.

Each year, the contributions of our alumni are formally recognised by awards, including the Australia Day and Queen’s Birthday Honours, and international awards such as the Rhodes Scholarship.

The University also celebrates the outstanding contributions of our alumni through the Distinguished Alumni Awards, the James McWha Award of Excellence, the Postgraduate and Honours Alumni University Medals and Alumni Fellow Awards.

The Honours Alumni University Medal and the Postgraduate Alumni University Medal recognise the outstanding academic merit of the newest graduates of the University. The nominees for the medal are honours and postgraduate students of outstanding academic merit from each faculty.

Cathryn McDonald — Honours Alumni University Medallist
Cathryn completed a First Class Honours Degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronic) and received high distinctions in every course as well as multiple academic prizes and scholarships.

“I cared a lot about the success of my Honours project, and it’s a good feeling that our team achieved something special with it. It’s great to join so many outstanding women in STEM fields who have won this award over the years,” says Cathryn.



Phiala Shanahan with Vice-Chancellor
and President, Professor Warren BebbingtonDr Phiala Shanahan — Postgraduate Alumni University Medallist
In 2012 Phiala was awarded the Honours Alumni University Medal and this year took out the Postgraduate Alumni University Medal. While undertaking her PhD in just three years, Phiala published 11 journal articles and a further six papers in conference proceedings.

“At the University I was able to work closely with world leaders in my field and learn from them in an incredibly supportive environment. It was the best possible start to my academic career,” says Phiala.

Phiala finished her PhD (Physics & Astro) in 2015. She is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

Find out more about the many ways the University recognises our alumni for their noteworthy accomplishments: www.adelaide.edu.au/alumni/recognised

Story by Fiona Solente