The Hon John Dowd AO QC farewelled at Graduation as next SCU Chancellor installed

When the Chancellor of Southern Cross University The Hon John Dowd AO QC walks onto the stage for the final time at this weekend’s (Saturday September 13) graduation ceremonies in Lismore, he will have conferred degrees and awards on more than 35,000 students in Australia and across the globe.

The Hon John Dowd AO QC will receive the award of Honorary Doctor of Laws at the afternoon (3pm) ceremony in recognition of his outstanding service to Southern Cross University over a 12-year period. He retires from the role of Chancellor on September 25. He is also being recognised for advancing the global cause of human rights.

The University recently announced the establishment of the John Robert Arthur Dowd Chair in the School of Law and Justice to further honour his contribution as Chancellor. This is the first named Chair at the University.

The Honourable John Dowd is an Officer of the Order of Australia and a Queen’s Counsel. He is also Deputy President of the New South Wales Mental Health Review Tribunal; Vice President of the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva; President of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia, Goodwill Ambassador of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance; and President of ActionAidAustralia. He is a former leader of the NSW Opposition; Attorney-General of NSW; and Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW.

His successor as Chancellor is Mr Nick Burton Taylor AM who will be installed as the next Chancellor at the same ceremony.

Mr Nick Burton Taylor AM will be the University’s fourth Chancellor. Mr Burton Taylor is Chairman of Delta Agribusiness and Principal of Hillgrove Pastoral Company. He is past chairman of the Australian Agricultural Company Limited and a former director of Rural Press, Graincorp Limited, Sydney Airport Corporation, Hazelton Airlines and the Meat Research Corporation. He is former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants; director CSR, and Founder and CEO of Hays Personnel Australia.

Mr Burton Taylor has close affiliations with rural and regional Australia, and with his wife Julia, was instrumental in establishing the Country Education Foundation of Australia. He is founding Chairman of the Foundation, a charity supporting further study for school-leavers in small, rural communities.

The former federal member for Page Janelle Saffin DipT(NRCAE), BLegS(Macq) will be presented with the award of Honorary Fellow of the University at the morning (11am) ceremony in acknowledgement of her contribution to Southern Cross University and to the Northern Rivers. Ms Saffin was a member of the University Council for two separate terms for a total of 16 years; and championed human rights throughout a long and successful career in the public service as a lawyer, politician and educator. Ms Saffin will deliver the occasional address.

The day of celebration will commence with the Chancellor The Hon John Dowd AO QC walking alongside graduands and academics in the University street procession through the Lismore CBD, in what has become an annual tradition.

The street procession starts at 9.45am from the Browns Creek/Clyde Campbell Car Park in Molesworth Street, before proceeding along Woodlark and Keen Streets and ending at the corner of Magellan and Keen Streets.

There will be two graduation ceremonies on Saturday September 13 in the Whitebrook Theatre at the Lismore campus, with around 250 students graduating from all of the University’s Schools and Colleges. Details are:

11am ceremony
School of Arts and Social Sciences; School of Education; Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples; School of Health and Human Sciences
Occasional address by Janelle Saffin DipT(NRCAE), BLegS(Macq).

3pm ceremony
School of Environment, Science and Engineering; School of Law and Justice; School of Tourism and Hospitality Management; Southern Cross Business School; Southern Cross GeoScience; Southern Cross Plant Science
Occasional address by Southern Cross University Chancellor The Hon John Dowd AO QC.

Photo: Southern Cross University Chancellor The Hon John Dowd AO QC.