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Welcome to the September edition of Alumni eNews. Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome more than 3,000 graduates to our alumni community. You are now part of a talented and global community of more than 145,000 alumni. We are passionate about supporting you in making your mark on the world and offer a range of alumni benefits, along with access to exclusive Young Alumni events and programs focused on personal and professional development.

The recent months have been challenging for all, and the Alumni Council want to take this opportunity to thank the alumni for their support and participation in our alumni program, and for their support of the University. This support has been particularly obvious with so many alumni donating to the Student Support Appeal that was launched in April. 

On behalf of our future alumni I also want to acknowledge the significant contribution that the senior executive made through workplace giving to this Appeal. To date the Appeal has raised $1,197,743.Louisa Rose

This year A/Prof Paul Grbin representing Faculty of Sciences on the Alumni Council completed three terms and stepped down. Paul’s contribution over the years has been significant, and while we will miss him, we are excited to welcome Reuben Jacob as the new Alumni Council member representative for the Faculty of Sciences. Reuben is also the inaugural President of the Sciences Alumni Network.

There are now 20 alumni networks across the globe, with representation in China, UK, USA, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore as well as local networks including John Bray Law, Art and History curatorship, MBA, ROCA, Young Alumni Network, and Friends of the Library. See a full list of networks or to find out how to start a new network.

During COVID- 19 the University has found other ways to connect with its alumni – virtually. From webinars to online short course learning, masterclasses, Elder Conservatorium concert series, Research Tuesday lectures, Professorial Lecture series and of course the opportunity to volunteer with our Talking with Aussies program. Our alumni networks have been part of this too, including offering wine masterclasses and webinars on topics of interest from key speakers including bitcoin, cryptocurrency and leadership.

We are also working with our alumni to support international students still in country, namely China, Malaysia, India and Indonesia, with virtual panel webinars with key international business alumni.

2020 marks the 25^th anniversary of the Malaysia Alumni Network – the University’s oldest alumni group. We are planning a virtual celebration, connecting with our more than 3,500 Malaysian alumni, and acknowledging some of our Colombo scholars as well as those who have made an impact both in Malaysia and the globe.

This year we hope to hold the second Alumni Council Summit, to draw together the networks to share ideas and help us shape the University’s 150^th in 2024. Current plans are to hold this virtually later in the year.

One of the last ‘in person’ alumni events held this year was on March 12 when we congratulated 2020 recipients of Alumni Fellow Award.; they were Judge Katrina Bochner (John Bray Law Alumni Network), Lorraine Caruso (MBA Alumni Network), Ann Davis (South Australian Universities Alumni Europe).

Thanks to all of the Alumni Council – if you want to reach out to any of please do – you can find us here.  While you are on the website have a look around the Alumni section; there is information about reunions, benefits, career development, awards, giving, and how you can get more involved.