UNSW Alumni Awards past winners

Art & Culture

Seb Chan 

Seb Chan is the Director & CEO of ACMI and has driven the digital and experiential transformation of museums globally, fostering innovation at the intersection of media, technology, and culture, while promoting open access and collaboration in the arts and heritage sectors.  

Professional Achievement 

Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM 

Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM is an author, columnist and keynote speaker. Kirstin champions leadership, gender equality, and workplace culture, leveraging her diverse experience across sectors to inspire positive change in organisations and promote inclusive leadership on a global scale. 

Research and Teaching Achievement

Dr Jessie Christiansen 

Dr Jessie Christiansen is an astronomer and has advanced our understanding of exoplanets and shaped the future of space exploration through her leadership at NASA, contributing to groundbreaking discoveries and inspiring the next generation of scientists. 

Yao May Wong 

Yao May Wong is the Head of Mathematics and Science at Kincoppal-Rose Bay and has advanced excellence in mathematics and science education, fostering innovation in teaching practices, and inspiring both students and colleagues through her leadership and dedication to lifelong learning. 

Social Impact & Service

Adjunct Professor Kieran Hynes 

Adjunct Professor Kieran Hynes is Founder & CEO of Willyama Services and has championed cybersecurity across government and commercial sectors, advocating for the security of national supply chains, and empowering Indigenous and disability communities through his leadership in both industry and non-profits. 

Young Alumni Award

Chanel Contos 

Chanel Contos is the author and Founder of Teach Us Consent and has lead the national movement for consent education in Australia, championing legal reforms against sexual violence, and advocating for gender equality, earning recognition for her efforts to dismantle rape culture and inspire lasting societal change. 

Chancellor's Award for Exceptional Alumni Achievement

Alexis George  

Alexis George — CEO of AMP Limited and has lead major financial institutions through complex transformations, advocating for women in leadership, and driven strategic initiatives that shape the financial services landscape both in Australia and globally. 

Research & Teaching Achievement

Professor Leon Flicker AO

Leon’s research activities have focused on the major health issues of older people, including falls, depression, and cognitive impairment. His work has made an enormous contribution to geriatric medicine and dementia prevention and care.

Professor Si Ming Man

Si Ming’s work in immunology has been crucial to our collective understanding of discovering new ways to fight drug-resistant bacteria and how to harness the body’s natural defence mechanisms to fight diseases. 

Professional Achievement

Lucy McCallum

In 2019, her Honour was elevated to the New South Wales Court of Appeal where she sat on a wide range of matters until her Honour’s appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory in 2022.

Art & Culture

Suzie Miller

Suzie Miller is a contemporary international playwright, screenwriter, and librettist, drawn to complex human stories often exploring injustice. Her plays have been produced in over 40 productions around the world and have won multiple prestigious awards.

Social Impact & Service

Michael Brosowski AM

Michael Brosowski AM is the Founder and Strategic Director of Blue Dragon Children's Foundation in Vietnam, which is an organisation working towards the end of human trafficking. Michael is a CNN Hero and a Member of the Order of Australia. He is leading the strategy of Blue Dragon's ambitious 10-year plan to eliminate human trafficking in Vietnam.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Frances Atkins

Frances is the co-founder of givvable.com, a tech-platform using artificial intelligence, big data, and advanced modelling to automate supplier sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) diligence for companies.

Young Alumni

Rix Smith

Rix’s passion for sustainability and business with impact has led him down the entrepreneurship path to help solve the plastic waste crisis in Southeast Asia. Ministry of Waste’s work built critical infrastructure to divert waste away from landfills and the ocean, while simultaneously improving gender equality outcomes in local Indonesian communities.

Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Alumni Achievement

Senator Jim Molan AO DSC

Our 2023 Chancellor's Award for Exceptional Alumni Achievement was awarded posthumously to the late Senator Jim Molan AO DSC. Andrew James (Jim) Molan was a soldier, a pilot, an author, a linguist, a diplomat, a volunteer firefighter, and a senator. Jim entered the Senate in December 2017, and through committee and other advocacy work campaigned tirelessly for a national security strategy. 

Jim died on 16 January 2023. His legacy is his family, and his immeasurable contribution to a safer and more secure Australia.

Research & Teaching Achievement

Professor Michelle Coote

Professor Michelle Coote is a Matthew Flinders Professor in Chemistry at Flinders University, having recently moved from the Australian National University (ANU). 

Professional Achievement

Gabby Costigan MBE

Gabby Costigan is Group Managing Director, Business Development for BAE Systems., and a passionate advocate for championing women in defence and women in STEM across Australia.

After graduating with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering Gabby joined the Australian Army, eventually retiring as a Colonel after a distinguished career that included operational experience commanding logistic operations for both Australian and US deployed military forces. 
 

Art & Culture

Patricia Adjei

Patricia Adjei is a Wuthathi, Mabuiag Islander and Ghanaian woman and arts and ICIP advocate from Warrane/Sydney. 

Patricia holds a B.Arts and Law from UNSW Sydney and is the Head of First Nations Arts and Culture at the Australia Council for the Arts. Patricia has worked on developing the Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts.

After graduating with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering Gabby joined the Australian Army, eventually retiring as a Colonel after a distinguished career that included operational experience commanding logistic operations for both Australian and US deployed military forces. 
 

Social Impact & Service

Simone Abel

Simone Abel was Capital Punishment Justice Project’s Chief Executive Officer (‘CPJP’, formerly Reprieve Australia) since 2020. 

Simone joined CPJP in 2020, having previously been a Director of Reprieve UK for seven years. In this time, Simone helped professionalise and grow Reprieve. Her focus has been on strategy, policy and governance of organisations that seek accountability of governments for extreme rights abuses, including the death penalty. 
 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Dr Aengus Tran

Dr Aengus Tran is the cofounder and CEO of harrison.ai, a Sydney med-tech company that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to build powerful tools for clinicians that help scale the global capacity of healthcare.

Aengus trained as a medical doctor at UNSW Sydney. At the same time, he is also a skilled AI engineer with a deep passion for applying the latest advancement in technology to save lives. 
 

Young Alumni

Dr Mayooran Namasivayam

Dr. Mayooran Namasivayam is a staff specialist cardiologist and cardiac imaging specialist at the St. Vincent’s Hospital Campus, Sydney. He is the Associate Director of Echocardiography at St. Vincent’s Hospital. 

Mayooran is actively involved in the structural heart interventional program as an interventional echocardiography specialist and has performed over 1000 transoesophageal echocardiography procedures.
 

Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Alumni Achievement

Dr Robyn Denholm

Robyn Denholm is a leading global technology executive. She is Chair of the Board of Directors of Tesla Inc., Operating Partner of Blackbird Ventures and Chair of The Technology Council of Australia. 

Robyn joined the Tesla Board in 2014 as an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. She was appointed to serve as Independent Chair of the Board of Directors in November 2018 and re-elected as Chair in 2020. Robyn joined Blackbird Ventures as an Operating Partner in January 2021, in this role she works with the founders of later stage technology companies to help them scale and succeed. 

In addition, Robyn is actively stewarding the Australian technology sector as Chair of The Australian Tech Council, which was launched in 2021, with an ambition to get 1.2 million people into Australian tech jobs by 2030.
 

Research & Teaching Achievement

Professor Nick Talley AC 

Laureate Professor Nick Talley is an expert clinician, educator and researcher, with extensive experience as a leader in the medical and university sectors. Professor Talley completed a Bachelor of ‪Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with UNSW in 1979.  A neurogastroenterologist, Professor Talley has published over 1000 papers in the peer-reviewed literature and is considered one of the world’s most influential clinician-researchers.
 

Professional Achievement 

Brigadier Alison Creagh AM CSC (Retd)

Brigadier Alison Creagh AM CSC  (Retd) is a Chair, Non-Executive Director and Strategic Adviser and in 2021 was recognised as an outstanding Defence Ambassador for the Australian Capital Territory.  Following 30 years of dedicated service, Alison retired from the Australian Regular Army in March 2015. Over her career, Alison planned and supported numerous operations in Australia and overseas, including deployments to Cambodia, East Timor, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
 

Art, Design & Culture

Khadim Ali

Khadim Ali is a Pakistani Asian Modern & Contemporary artist whose work has featured in numerous exhibitions at key galleries and museums, including the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Khadim studied miniature painting at the National College of Arts, Lahor, calligraphy at Tehran University, Iran and completed a Master of Fine Art at UNSW Art & Design in 2015.

As a child, Khadim was deeply influenced by his grandfather, a Shanamah singer, and by the miniature paintings that illustrated the stories of the Shanamah, a tenth-century epic poem. Khadim’s intricate works encompass imagery from history, politics, literature, poetry and mythology to explore contemporary events such as the civil war in Afghanistan and personal experiences of persecution, displacement and discrimination.
 

Social Impact & Service

Dr Cassandra Goldie

Cassandra Goldie is CEO of ACOSS, the peak body for the community sector, and Adjunct Professor at UNSW Sydney. With public policy expertise in economic and social issues, civil society, social justice and human rights, Cassandra has represented the interests of people who are disadvantaged in national and international processes, as well as in grassroots communities. Prior to joining ACOSS, Cassandra held senior roles with the Australian Human Rights Commission, Darwin Community Legal Service and Legal Aid in Western Australia. 
 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Robert Hango-Zada & William On

Rob Hango-Zada is the Co-Founder & Joint CEO of APAC’s fast-growing shipping platform, Shippit. He brings a common-sense & customer-centric approach to Australian retailing. Having spent a decade working for the world’s leading FMCG businesses (Procter & Gamble, Unilever) across Asia, Rob has vast experience in converting customer insight and analytics into growth driving strategies for retailers such as Woolworths, Coles, Tesco & Priceline and numerous global brands. Rob’s frustration as an online shopper drove him to co-found Shippit with William On to enhance the post-purchase experience from cart to doorstep and back again. Shippit now powers delivery for leading retailers such as General Pants, Cue Clothing, Sephora, The Athlete’s Foot and more. Outside of work, Rob is a big fan of bold red wine, fancy socks and good design.

Will On is Co-Founder and CEO of Shippit, APAC’s fast-growing shipping technology company founded in Australia. Hailing from management consultancies Deloitte and PWC, Will spearheaded the platform’s 300% year-on-year growth across Australia and New Zealand and now oversees Shippit’s expansion into South East Asia. Shippit currently handles over 50 million shipments annually, looking after some of the world’s largest retailers such as Sephora, UNIQLO, Cotton On and Harvey Norman. In his spare time Will plays competitive basketball, enjoys a run and a glass of red!

Rob & Will were both UNSW Co-op scholars, graduating from BSc BIT (Business Information Technology) with 1st Class Honours. Learn more about the UNSW Co-op program here.
 

Young Alumni

Jessie Tu

Jessie Tu trained as a classical violinist for more than 15 years and undertook a B.Music/B.Music Education at UNSW. She is the emerging book critic at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and a journalist and cultural editor at Women's Agenda. Her work has been published in The Guardian, L.A Review of Books and South China Morning Post. Jessie has won several poetry and writing awards and her first book of poetry, You Should Have Told Me We Have Nothing Left was released in 2018. A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing is her first novel.
 

Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Alumni Achievement

Dr Philip Lowe

Philip Lowe is Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Mr Lowe holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.Comm (Honours) in Economics/Econometrics from the University of New South Wales. He has authored numerous papers, including on the linkages between monetary policy and financial stability. He commenced as Governor on 18 September 2016.

Research Achievement

Professor Tamara Davis, AM BSc/BA ’99, PhD (Physics) ’04 

Tamara Davis is a cosmologist working as a Professor and Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow at the University of Queensland. Her research explores new fundamental physics, particularly the properties of dark energy and dark matter. Her work and insights are significantly advancing our understanding of the universe, helping us better understand the fundamental laws of nature. 
 

Professional Achievement

The Honourable David Dak Wah Wong BCom ’76, LLB ‘77

David Wong is the recently retired Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, High Court of Sabah, Malaysia. In holding this esteemed position since 2018, David is the first UNSW Law alumnus in history to be appointed to the apex court of a nation, representing extraordinary recognition of standing, experience, and legal skills.
 

Art & Culture

Lynette Wallworth DipArt ’81, BAVA (Conv) ’85 

Lynette Wallworth is an acclaimed Australian artist and film maker, an Emmy and AACTA award-winning director, and is widely regarded as a pioneer in the field of virtual reality (VR). Her artwork and films, which reflect on the connections between people and the natural world, have resonated with audiences in Australia and beyond.
 

Social Impact & Service

Dr Terri Janke BA LLB ’95 

Terri Janke is a proud Wuthathi and Meriam woman and Indigenous lawyer, who is considered a leading international authority on Indigenous cultural and intellectual property. Throughout her 24 years as a lawyer, Terri’s mission has been to further Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander empowerment, and she is known for her innovation in establishing productive new business pathways between the non-Indigenous business sector and Indigenous people. 
 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Moses Lo BCom ‘10

Moses is the founder and CEO of Xendit, a payments infrastructure business in Southeast Asia. He founded the company in 2015 and has since built it into what is now one of the fastest growing payment companies in the world.
 

Young Alumni

Teela May Reid JD ’16 

Teela Reid is an activist, lawyer, and proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman from Gilgandra in Western NSW. She is currently a criminal defence lawyer at Legal Aid NSW and a passionate advocate for abolishing systemic racism in the criminal justice process and the Australian Constitution.
 

Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Alumni Achievement

Dr Kerry Chant, PSM MB BS ’87, MHA ’91, MPH ’95 

Dr Kerry Chant is the Chief Health Officer and Deputy Secretary, Population and Public Health, NSW Health. Kerry has extensive public health experience in New South Wales, having held a range of senior positions in NSW Health since 1991. She currently leads the Population and Public Health Division, which has accountabilities for a broad portfolio of issues including communicable disease control, prevention of chronic diseases, drug and alcohol, research translation, and health system response to acute and emerging clinical issues.