Alumni & Giving

The University of Melbourne Alumni Council, established in 2011, represents the interests of the University and alumni around the world and 2021 marks a significant period of change and renewal for the group.The Alumni Council’s regular biennial elections took place in February, with 35 alumni choosing to nominate to run for six available places.

The Pathways to Politics Program seeks to increase female participation in politics by equipping women with the skills and knowledge to succeed in running for elected office, and to thrive as political leaders. Applications are now open!

New research works out where and when to apply planned fire for the benefit of kangaroos and other Australian animals in a time of rapid environmental change.

University students going hungry in Australia was a persistent problem before COVID-19. It’s time we use the crisis to come up with sustainable solutions for our campuses.

By normalising brilliant women to our daughters and our sons, we make room for those women. If we don’t, it becomes a real problem for successful women when those boys become men.

In an update on its 2020 financial position, the University of Melbourne last month announced that its preliminary, unaudited accounts show an operating surplus of approximately $8 million for 2020 and that the next two years continue to present substantial challenges.

Half of the world’s population is predicted to be short-sighted by 2050, driven by the growing intensity of close-vision work, highlighting the importance of getting outdoors.

From transforming neglected streetscapes, to choosing climate-ready tree species, here are five ways you can support greener and cooler urban environments.

The genomes of the platypus and echidna have now been published, providing a valuable resource for research, as well as for their conservation and health.

Congratulations to the alumni, staff and former staff who were honoured in this year’s Australia Day Honours.

Réjane Langlois was, according to friends, a force of nature. Her adventurousness and thirst for knowledge are now beautifully captured in her legacy gift to the University of Melbourne.

Voting in the Alumni Council Elections is now open. Have your say, cast your vote today!

Santa’s sleigh run must be classified as an essential service, so how can Mr Claus and his reindeer be super spreaders of goodwill and not COVID-19 this Christmas?

Women are the Business won gold at the Australian Podcast Awards 2020 in the business category. Catch up now.

A new project is digitising some of Australia’s most culturally-important lost books, getting them into libraries and answering some important questions.

With the rise in popularity of eSports, and some touting it as the future of sport in a post-COVID world, there’s increasing interest in establishing competitive eSports clubs within schools. What are the benefits?

Watch Episode 2 of Conversations on COVID-19: A Global View with Dame Sally Davies and Dr Jason Thompson.

Australians like their pets, and for most of us by far, the dog remains our best friend. What else does a recent survey of 17,000 households tell us about patterns of pet ownership?

Nominations are now open to run for election to the Alumni Council. Help us build an Alumni Council which is representative of our vibrant and diverse alumni community.

The first human trial of a tiny device that reads brain signals is successfully allowing patients with paralysis to operate computers and phones with their minds.

A new report delves into the health and wellbeing of university students, aiming to help Australian universities enhance student experiences and academic outcomes.

Hear and learn words from Australian Indigenous languages with the help of a new online resource.

Contribute to robust discussions, and bring your ancient-world wits to the Melbourne Classics Quiz.

2020 has shone a light on the extraordinary work of healthcare professionals across the globe. Meet some of our alumni working in healthcare policy, research and on the frontline whose work will make an impact now and into the future.

Grapevine prunings are an abundant source of agricultural crop waste that are now being turned into recycled building materials.

The discovery of how a key protein works in your liver to reduce blood glucose levels could lead to a more effective type 2 diabetes drug.

The willie wagtail, an iconic Australian bird, is known for its fan tail and twinkling song – and now, a new study shows that they also sing to the moon.

The University’s current forecast for 2020 indicates an improved position from the financial shortfall previously forecast, but very tough years still lie ahead.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions have had wide-ranging impacts on the lives of students.All of the University of Melbourne’s studies and student services moved to virtual delivery in response to the pandemic. A new way of working emerged, with online appointments, workshops and drop-ins continuing to help students across the globe.

To help shape its Sustainability Plan 2021–2025, the University is seeking views and ideas from alumni. Join an interactive online session or submit a feedback form and have your say on our sustainable future.

Australia’s leading infectious disease institute is directing the response on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of COVID-19, while developing critical insights that will inform the management of future pandemics.

The University of Melbourne is proud to acknowledge recipients of 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours who have connections to the University, including staff members, valued alumni, and supporters.

The University of Melbourne’s community of donors, alumni and staff has come together during the past three months to support students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide vital funds to some of Australia’s leading researchers.

University experts explain the complex challenge of creating, testing and distributing a potential vaccine to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

University of Melbourne and Queensland Museum palaeontologists have today announced the discovery of new extinct Australian megafauna that lived until 40,000 years ago in tropical northern Australia.

Report to Donors shares the impact that giving has on the University. Download the latest Report to Donors here

The University of Melbourne Grounds team and New Student Precinct building contractors, Kane Constructions, have collaborated with Melbourne Zoo to repurpose large amounts of plants removed from campus for animal feed.

In this edition of Alumni News, I wanted to provide an update on the University’s activities as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop.

In light of the emerging COVID-19 situation and continuing policy statements from the State and Federal Government, the University is adopting a series of changes to reduce rates of infection in the community.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has impacted many of our alumni, and you are at the forefront of our minds at this difficult time. We want to express our sympathies and concern for you, our alumni community, and your family, friends and colleagues.

Congratulations to the 118 alumni, staff and former staff who have been honoured in this year’s Australia Day Honours list.

You are part of a community of more than 400,000 alumni, located in over 180 countries around the world. Fifty-four per cent of you are women, 45% men, with the majority of you aged between 30-49.

We know that navigating life after uni can be challenging. Transitioning from study to establishing your career is a significant life change.

The University’s magazine, 3010, brings you a delectable smorgasbord of University news, initiatives, profiles and so much more from 2019.

Two new masters courses, one of which is the first of its kind in the country, offer unique specialisations for arts professionals.

A research team at the University of Melbourne has successfully trialled a music therapy program that can impact how people living with dementia are cared for at home.

For Dr Andrew McAliece (BDSc 1985) and Dr Richard Simmie (MBBS 1978), the decision to support performing arts students, through their lifetime giving and a gift in their Wills, has opened up a whole new world. And for one recipient of their generosity, it’s been an investment in a budding performing arts career.

The University of Melbourne remains the highest ranked Australian university in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, placing 32nd for the third year in a row.

Transmissible disease control, improved outcomes for neurological disorders, adolescent health and chronic disease are the focus of four new Centres for Research Excellence at the University of Melbourne.

The University of Melbourne has announced that it will invest at least $6 million to launch an Indigenous Knowledge Institute for world-leading Aboriginal knowledge, research and education.

August has been a significant month in the University of Melbourne calendar – with a focus on the important partnerships we share with our Indigenous communities and a commitment to truth telling, constitutional recognition and reconciliation.

A new scholarship has been created to attract the best and brightest rowers to study and row at the University of Melbourne.

A major arts project presented by the University launched on 1 July at the feet of Michelangelo’s David, the world’s most famous statement on physical perfection, ahead of an exhibition in Florence, and another to be held in Melbourne this month.

The University of Melbourne is on track to achieve its target of zero net emissions from electricity by 2021, and commitment to carbon neutrality before 2030 – both headline targets of the Sustainability Plan developed in 2017.

This year a total of 110 alumni, staff and former staff have been honoured for their contribution to Australian society in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, two of whom received the nation’s top civilian honour – Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AC).

No student should miss out on a Melbourne education due to financial difficulty. Your gift can help turn their ambition into achievement.

A University of Melbourne project has been selected as a finalist in the Macquarie 50th Anniversary Award.

The University’s new life sciences complex has been officially opened, offering Australia’s most sophisticated STEMM teaching laboratories and facilities, and strengthening the global status of Melbourne’s biomedical precinct.

More than 1000 students and staff have moved into the new state-of-the-art Ian Potter Southbank Centre, home to the new Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

The University of Melbourne provides lifelong learning opportunities through the Melbourne School of Professional and Continuing Education (MSPACE). We offer a comprehensive, high-quality range of flexible online, face-to-face and blended study options to redefine best practice in professional, continuing and executive education.

The University of Melbourne Alumni Council, established in 2011, represents the interests of the University and alumni around the world. Elections took place last October, with 43 alumni choosing to nominate to run for six available places.

A new drug delays motor neurone disease progression and improves cognitive and clinical symptoms, according to trial results announced by a spin-out company from the Florey Institute and the University of Melbourne.

More than 100 alumni, staff and former staff were honoured for their contribution to Australian society in the Australia Day Honours, with five alumni appointed Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AC) – the nation’s top civilian honour.

The University of Melbourne has entered into a 40-year student accommodation agreement with AMP Capital, through its AMP Capital Diversified Infrastructure Trust.

Researchers have unlocked details revealing how brains change in people with schizophrenia and evidence suggesting that in the early stages of the illness the brain may be compensating for damage caused.

Emerging Indigenous artist Yhonnie Scarce has been named the 2018 Kate Challis RAKA Award recipient for her contribution to the visual arts using blown glass.

The University of Melbourne has been awarded a four-year grant from the Amgen Foundation to provide hands-on research experience in a laboratory to undergraduate science students across Australia, New Zealand and Oceania to inspire the next generation of innovators.

Men with particular cancers generally fare worse than women with the same cancers, new Australian research has found.

The University of Melbourne, in partnership with a consortium led by Lendlease, has officially launched Melbourne Connect – a major new purpose-built innovation precinct.

The University of Melbourne has secured a partnership with a major bio-pharmaceutical company which will deliver significant opportunities for the University’s researchers and students in coming years.

Screenwriter Nick Watson is one of the writers of the new animation series Bluey, which has just launched on ABC Kids to the delight of young audiences across Australia.

The latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings has placed the University of Melbourne as 32nd globally, again heading Australian universities in the list.

Professor Duncan Maskell has commenced his term as the 20th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Australia’s leading university and the largest research university in Australia.

Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage objects from one of the most important anthropological collections in the world will go on display for the first time at the Arts West Gallery.

The University of Melbourne has continued its climb in the top 10 best universities in the world for employability outcomes for its graduates, moving to sixth in the world according to the 2019 QS Graduate Employability Rankings.

The University of Melbourne has maintained its position as the top Australian university in Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), moving up one place to 38th in the world.

A total of 100 alumni, staff and former staff were honoured for their contribution to Australian society in the latest Queen’s Birthday Honours, with four being recipients of the nation’s top civilian honour – Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AC).

Five University of Melbourne researchers have become new Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science, one of the country's highest honours recognising pioneering contributions to scientific knowledge.

John Northey Ashford was a mechanical engineer, a keen glider, and a man with a lifetime of interest in new technologies.

Hundreds of talented Australian students will have the opportunity to realise their full potential through an extraordinary $30 million gift to the University of Melbourne from the Hansen Little Foundation.

Families of children with severe epilepsies may be able to avoid having a second child born with the devastating disease, according to a research breakthrough published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The University of Melbourne and its partners are one step closer to developing Australia’s leading innovation precinct, receiving planning approval from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).

Australian researchers will focus on the plight, rights and status of stateless people at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, launched at the Melbourne Law School on 26 March 2018.

The former Victoria Police Mounted Branch stables ('The Stables') have been transformed into world-class teaching and learning facilities for students of the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music following an $18 million make-over.

Professor Alexis Wright, a member of the Waanyi Nation and Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne has been awarded the 2018 Stella Prize for Tracker – the collective memoir of Aboriginal leader and visionary Tracker Tilmouth.

The University of Melbourne has launched Buxton Contemporary, the new purpose-built home for one of Australia's most significant contemporary art collections.

The University of Melbourne has appointed a team of architects and designers, led by Lyons Architecture, to design the $229 million New Student Precinct on the Parkville Campus.

A program sponsored by one of the Faculty of Science's longest-serving philanthropic foundations is helping a diverse range of students better understand the frozen world of Antarctica, 70 years after the University first engaged in Antarctic research.

Dean Smith and Vonda Malone are the inaugural winners of the McKinnon Prize for Political Leadership – a new, non-partisan award recognising courageous, visionary and collaborative political leadership.

Five global themes that impact the world.A host of online global commentators.Hundreds of conversations and ideas.

Professor Pip Nicholson has been appointed the new Dean of the Melbourne Law School.

The University of Melbourne is delighted to become the home of the Robert Menzies Institute, which will honour Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister and his life-long commitment to Australia’s higher education system.

Established through one of the most significant gifts in Melbourne Law School's history, the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness will work with governments, the not-for-profit sector and the United Nations towards the elimination of statelessness.

Many of Victoria’s highest-achieving VCE students were today offered a Melbourne Chancellor’s Scholarship  to study at the University of Melbourne next year.

Philanthropist Pamela Galli has given medical biology — the cornerstone of modern healthcare and diagnostics — a $5 million boost with the establishment of the Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Medical Biology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne.

The West Gate Tunnel Project could worsen Melbourne’s traffic congestion, increase car dependency and should be rolled back, according to a new report from leading planning academics at the University of Melbourne and RMIT University.

On 22 November 2017, journalist Tony Jones host of ABC’s Q&A, moderated a panel discussion with four University of Melbourne academics on The Future of Health. The event was held in Sydney and attended by NSW-based alumni and future students of the University of Melbourne.

The idea of personalised seizure prediction for epilepsy is closer to becoming a reality thanks to new research published today by the University of Melbourne and IBM Research-Australia.

A new, non-partisan prize recognising courageous, visionary and collaborative political leadership across all tiers of Australian government is being launched today.

The University of Melbourne has joined some of Melbourne’s most iconic organisations to support the development of a new $200 million wind farm to be built near Ararat in regional Victoria.

New funding from Agilent Technologies Foundation will support Indigenous students on their journey from high school to the workplace.

The University of Melbourne has entered into a partnership with a consortium led by Lendlease to develop Australia’s leading innovation precinct.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2017 has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which involves a number of University of Melbourne academics.

The new Melbourne Dementia Research Centre is set to fast-track diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, bringing together Australia’s best scientists as they edge closer to a cure.

University of Melbourne Chancellor Allan Myers AC QC has announced the appointment of Professor Duncan Maskell as the next Vice-Chancellor, commencing in October 2018.

A new Chair in Archaeological Science has been established in order to advance the scientific understanding of Indigenous Australian rock art.

Home advantage counted for little in the 2017 Australian Boat Race, with the University of Melbourne finishing behind University of Sydney in the men's and women's races.

The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences has announced the election of 12 new Fellows from the University of Melbourne for their outstanding leadership and contributions to health and medical science in Australia, eight of whom are University alumni.

University of Melbourne Laureate Professor Eric Reynolds has won the 2017 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation.

Charging drivers at peak times could be the best way to help ease Melbourne’s traffic woes, according to new research by the University of Melbourne.

A model that gives Indigenous families who are expecting or have recently had babies a say in their health care has received a funding boost.

The University of Melbourne Law School has been ranked seventh in the world and first in Australia in the Times Higher Education World University 2018 Subject Rankings for Law.

President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Melbourne during his official visit to Australia in October 2017.

Dale Beeton is a Third Year BCom student majoring in Accounting and Finance. Here is a segment of the speech he gave at the FBE 40+ Reunion Lunch in September 2017. The annual lunch gives alumni who graduated from the BCom 40 or more years ago the chance to reconnect with the University and share memories with old friends. Dale interviewed Val (BCom 1954), one of the few women who studied Commerce in the 1950s, to find out what life was like for her then.

Senior leaders representing 25 universities from eight countries will meet in Melbourne today to exchange ideas on how research-intensive universities can best engage with their communities.

While important advances have been made in reducing other causes of child mortality – such as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which has seen reductions of upwards of 80 per cent – the rate of stillbirth in Australia has remained unchanged in the last three decades.

At a meeting last week, the Academic Board of the University of Melbourne passed a motion to support marriage equality. This was based on the values of the University that include upholding fundamental human rights and respecting the freedoms and rights of all members of the University community.

The Li Ka Shing Foundation will donate US$3 million (A$3.75 million) to a team of University of Melbourne researchers, based at the the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research (UMCCR) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, working to turn cancer into a manageable chronic disease.

The Li Ka Shing Foundation will donate US$3 million (A$3.75 million) to a team of University of Melbourne researchers, based at the the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research (UMCCR) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, who are working to turn cancer into a manageable chronic disease.

The University of Melbourne has moved into the ranks of the top ten best universities in the world for employability outcomes for its graduates, according to the 2018 QS Graduate Employability Rankings.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings has placed the University of Melbourne as 32nd in the world, up from 33rd in 2016.

A University of Melbourne team developing a live-saving oxygen supply system for the world’s poorest areas has won the 2017 ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology.

Queen’s College has been honoured with the inaugural Indigenous Oration given by Professor Marcia Langton AM, in a speech that forced attendees to acknowledge the plight of Indigenous children throughout Australia.

Sam Voutas is the director of ‘King of Peking’, a Chinese language dramedy shown at the 2017 Melbourne International Film Festival. Voutas talks about his experience as a student at the University and how this experience inspired him towards a career in filmmaking.

Three of Melbourne’s biggest institutions are partnering to create an ‘urban innovation district’ which is set to drive investment in the knowledge economy and shape the city’s future.

The University of Melbourne has maintained its position as the top Australian university in the prestigious Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, moving up one place to 39th in the world.

The University of Melbourne has released its data from the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) survey into university student experiences of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

St Hilda’s College has announced that Dr Brenda Holt will commence as Principal of the College in 2018. Dr Holt will take over from Barbara Green, who is retiring at the end of 2017 after 18 years' distinguished service.

The UK based social learning platform, FutureLearn, is partnering with the University of Melbourne to offer open online courses to its global audience.

James Billson has a family history in architecture that few can boast.

The 2017 Helpmann Awards on 24 July was a fantastic night for our alumni community, with a number of awards going to our incredibly talented alumni:

A critical investment in Indigenous health will help eliminate preventable blindness.

University of Melbourne degrees are different - and so is our Open Day.

The University of Melbourne has awarded the Doctor of Laws honoris causa (an Honorary Doctorate of Laws) to The Hon. Al Gore - former US Vice President - in recognition of his efforts to recognise and tackle man-made global warming.

The latest recipient of the Michael Kaufman Scholarship has replicated her father’s achievement in gaining the prestigious architecture scholarship.

The University of Melbourne has started a global search for its next Vice-Chancellor after Professor Glyn Davis elected not to renew his contract beyond the end of 2018.

One of the most significant gifts in the University of Melbourne Law School's history will establish the world’s only academic centre devoted to the problem of statelessness.

Research investigating chewing gum to treat post-operative nausea was among projects recognised when Melbourne Medical School anaesthetists and trainees won prestigious Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) awards.

The Faculty of Arts boasts an alumni community of more than 70,000 members. These alumni have made a significant contribution to society, both in Australia and overseas.

Everybody needs guidance to reach their potential.

9x5 NOW exhibition receives huge response by Australia's leading artists.

The hidden beauty of complex formulas is brought to life in a new exhibition at the University of Melbourne.

An access scholarship is helping Malaysian students overcome financial disadvantage and giving them the opportunity of a world-class education.

Jason Glanville has been appointed as the foundation Program Director for the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity.

A rich multitude of human experience exists within a single city block. City Songs is an exhibition featuring people of Melbourne, through the eyes of photographer Zoe Ali, writer Christos Tsiolkas (BA 1987) and University of Melbourne historian Professor Andrew May (BA(Hons) 1985, PhD 1994).

The University of Melbourne has announced an ambitious four-year strategy committing itself to take action on climate change and its impacts, and play a sector leadership role in sustainability.

Thirty-eight Indigenous high school students are in Melbourne this week to learn the secrets of combining high-performance sport and academic success.

In recognition of the remarkable generosity of The Ian Potter Foundation, the University of Melbourne today announced it will name the new Melbourne Conservatorium of Music building, The Ian Potter Southbank Centre.

Dubbed the ‘Iron Lady of Architecture’, alumna Datuk Pei Ing Tan (BArch(Hons) 1984) has been awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award at the 2016 Malaysia Australia Alumni Council Awards in Kuala Lumpur.

The Melbourne Medical School is delighted to congratulate alumnus Dr Garang Dut (MD 2014) on receiving the prestigious Roth/Segal John Monash Harvard Scholarship to support his postgraduate studies at Harvard University in 2017.

The Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning has received a gift of $1 million from Creative Futures, supported by Professor Daryl Le Grew and alumnus Dr Robert Treseder.

The University of Melbourne has appointed Allan Myers AC QC as its next Chancellor.

A University of Melbourne researcher has been recognised for her work on drug-resistant strains of typhoid and dysentery, which are spreading through developing countries and making a comeback in developed countries via international travellers.

Congratulations to Dr Yijia Li (PhD 2014) who this week received the AIDE Education Service – Young Australia China Alumni of the Year Award in a ceremony in Guangzhou.

A bid to improve near-zero survival rates for pancreatic cancer will receive a boost with the creation of Australia’s first pancreatic cancer ‘organoids bank’, enabling researchers to bring down the time it takes to find individualised chemotherapy treatment within weeks rather than months.

Professor Susan Walker has one of the hardest but more rewarding jobs in the world. As a maternal fetal medicine specialist, she is on the front line helping women with high-risk pregnancies carry and deliver their babies safely.

A seismic US$50 million investment in societal change in Australia and New Zealand by US-based Atlantic Philanthropies will create a new Fellowship program led by the University of Melbourne that will train a new generation of leaders committed to tackling social disadvantage.

Twelve University of Melbourne alumnae have been shortlisted in the Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards 2016.

Thanks to more than 20,000 donors worldwide, Believe — the Campaign for the University of Melbourne has reached its $500 million target two years ahead of schedule.

Generous support from donors is transforming the Southbank Arts precinct.

Philanthropy has made an immense impact in our work aiming to solve the world’s grand challenges.

The Ronald Philip Griffiths Bequest is funding major mental health research thanks to the foresight of its benefactor, whose bequest passed to the University in 1996 following the death of his daughter.

The Women in Physics Award encouraged Rebecca Ryan to pursue a career in software development.

Creative thinkers with exciting ideas are getting a boost from new entrepreneurship programs.

A career in the law has been launched thanks to support for Indigenous students.

From Siberia to north-eastern NSW – a graduate teacher is realising her dream of helping others.

Laby Fellow Jacinta den Besten is helping women to believe in themselves and succeed in science.

Two researchers demonstrate the diverse range of research made possible by McArthur Fellowships.

Known as ‘the Pavvy’, the beloved University Oval pavilion has been given a new lease on life thanks to a $6.5 million redevelopment.

The University of Melbourne has climbed four places in the prestigious Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, further strengthening its place as Australia’s number one university.

A project worth more than $40 million is redeveloping the Dodds Street stables into a visual arts wing at the VCA, creating a new entry point to the University and opening the campus to students, local business and residents.

The University of Melbourne has welcomed a major philanthropic gift of $6.9 million to support the practice and teaching of art conservation.

A major donation to the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Neural Engineering (CfNE) provides critical funds to advance links between life sciences, engineering and physical sciences and drive the next wave of medical breakthroughs in Australia.

The University of Melbourne has partnered with the Westpac Bicentennial Foundation to establish the largest private education scholarship program in Australian history.

The Financial Markets Foundation for Children generously gave $5 million to Believe – The Campaign for the University of Melbourne in 2013 to create the Financial Markets Foundation Chair of Developmental Mental Health.

A gift to create Melbourne Law School’s first endowed chair in human rights is helping to advance an understanding of a body of law that promotes dignity and equality for all.

A year-long residency open to Indigenous arts practitioners from Victoria is helping to give artists the time and space to reflect on and develop their cultural practice.

Julie Sheldrake wants to make life easier for students.

A major gift of $2.3 million from philanthropist John Higgins has strengthened the University of Melbourne's research and teaching in the field of positive psychology – which aims to build psychological health and resilience in individuals and organisations.

In one of the most significant acts of arts philanthropy to an Australian university, property developer and passionate art collector, Michael Buxton, has donated his private contemporary Australian art collection to the University of Melbourne.

A major gift to Believe - the Campaign for the University of Melbourne has established a Chair in Australian art history.

Future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals have the opportunity for leadership development in health policy and practice thanks to a $10 million gift from leading Australian philanthropist, Greg Poche AO.

A Masters of Entrepreneurship has been delivered by the University of Melbourne at the purpose-built Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship on the grounds of Ormond College, thanks to a $10-million donation from alumnus Peter Wade.

Undergraduate students are now able to apply for a unique exchange scholarship program that puts them in charge of their international study adventure.

A new Chair of Classics has been established at the University of Melbourne following a significant donation given by Melbourne alumni Mrs Elizabeth and Professor James Tatoulis AM.

The University of Melbourne has established the Francine V. McNiff Chair in Criminology - a first for the institution - as part of a significant donation of $4 million by former staff member and Magistrate, Ms Francine McNiff.

Professor Shitij Kapur has been announced as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Health).

The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) will be the new home for Australia’s most prestigious art journal following a generous gift from a noted publisher.

Award winning novelist Richard Flanagan has been appointed as the Boisbouvier Founding Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne.

The University of Melbourne has formally proposed that a new rail station to be built on Grattan Street should be named ‘University’.

More than 60 University of Melbourne alumni, staff and members of the broader University of Melbourne academic community received recognition in the recent Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Professor Julie Willis has been appointed the new Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne.

A significant gift of $10 million for the Arts and Humanities from Jane Hansen and Paul Little, AO, will be announced today with the launch of The Little Foundation.

The first Australian university program to address the continued under-representation of women in parliament has been launched by the Hon Julie Bishop MP, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Ms Carol Schwartz AM and the University of Melbourne at Parliament House, Canberra.

Moving to the other side of the world with your family is always challenging, no matter how attractive the climate and beaches.

In a first for Victoria, the Boisbouvier Founding Chair in Australian Literature has been established at the University of Melbourne to advance the teaching, understanding and public appreciation of Australian literature.

The University of Melbourne has retained its number one position in Australia and 44th in the world according to the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities results.

The University of Melbourne has announced that the Campaign total has reached $500 million.

Music at Melbourne will receive a boost after the Victorian Government gave the University of Melbourne a capital grant to develop a new building for the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) at Southbank.

A team from the University of Melbourne working to reduce preventable deaths in low and middle-income countries has been given an additional $11 million boost by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

In his spare time, Melbourne Law School alum Mark Tyndall hosts a podcast exploring the hidden talents, projects and stories of lawyers.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has chosen the Melbourne Graduate School of Education to lead a large-scale transformation of the curriculum for its 36,000 schools, to begin this year.