ON THE MOVE
campusreview.com.au
POLLIES PAIR
Joining the University
of South Australia
as business school
industry professors
are Christopher Pyne,
the former federal
minister for defence,
and Jay Weatherill, the
state’s former premier.
Professor Marie Wilson,
pro-vice-chancellor
of business and
law, said Pyne and
Weatherill "will bring not only intellectual
acumen to their professorships but also a
career’s worth of high-level experience in
negotiation, international trade, legislation
and community consultation and debate,
industry liaison, and a host of adaptive skills
that are the hallmark of successful leaders”.
VIVA LA LIFE
SCIENCE
Britain’s agonising over Brexit has spawned
a lot of new vocabulary. One of the most
evocative of these words is gammon, used
to describe “white men of a certain age
who become pink in the face when working
themselves into a rage about the European
Union” according to the English paper,
The Telegraph (7.11.2018). The colour refers
to the cut of meat – a type of cured pork,
similar to bacon. This application of the
term to nationalistic fervour is not entirely
new. Charles Dickens has an MP in Nicholas
Nickleby say “The meaning of that term –
gammon … is unknown to me. If it means
that I grow a little too fervid, or perhaps even
hyperbolical, in extolling my native land,
I admit the full justice of the remark. I am
proud of this free and happy country”. In fact,
the character has mistaken the meaning.
He is actually being accused of talking
gammon – in other words, bullshitting. We
don’t know exactly how this sense arose,
but it – rather than the meat one – is still
around in Australia, particularly in Aboriginal
English, according to the Australian National
Dictionary. Regardless of its origins, perhaps
there’s a correlation between the amount of
gammoning you do and how gammon-like
your visage becomes.
Written by Dr Adam Smith, convenor of
the Editing and Electronic Publishing
Program at Macquarie University.
28
There’s just one
Australian on the
European Molecular
Biology Organization
this year: Professor
Jennifer Stow. The UQ researcher is
delighted to have been elected, joining
the body’s quest to promote excellence
in life sciences. Stow, who specialises in
cell biology and the immune system, was
integral in setting up a facility which enables
researchers to record living cells in 3D.
“It's imperative for Australia to collaborate
in global alliances to further develop these
technologies for research and industry,”
she said. “This position will provide Australia
with more ties with science in Europe,
offering new opportunities for scientific
collaboration and technology development.”
PROVEN PROVOST
Come September,
there’ll be a new
provost at the University
of Sydney. Professor
Barbara Messerle
will replace Professor
Stephen Garton, who will in turn take on the
role of senior deputy VC to assist with the
transition. Messerle has been at Macquarie
since 2015, serving as executive dean of
the Faculty of Science and Engineering,
but she completed her undergraduate and
postgraduate years at Sydney.
“Professor Messerle has an outstanding
track record in higher education and
proven experience in innovation and
transformational change leading to better
outcomes for students, teaching staff and
researchers,” said VC Dr Michael Spence.
GOING WEST
From an education at
Oxford, Cambridge
and the University of
London, to a 12-year
term at King’s College
London, Tayyeb Shah
is now UWA’s new deputy vice-chancellor
(global partnerships).
A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts,
Shah helped develop a number of strategic
multimillion-dollar projects at King’s, which
strengthened the college’s relationship with
China in particular.
Shah is delighted to join WA’s Go8
leader, describing it as “an institution which
combines an impressive international
reputation with a high level of ambition”.
STRIKING GOLD
A Goldfields girl turned
mining executive,
Sabina Shugg has been
announced as the first
ever female director
of Curtin University’s
WA School of Mines in Kalgoorlie.
A graduate of the school, Shugg has
forged a successful career in the sector,
working at some of the country’s largest
consulting and resource organisations.
Shugg will have a key role in helping
to redevelop the curriculum to ensure
students are fit for future needs, with a
mind to facilitating emerging areas such
as robotics, data analytics and additive
manufacturing.
Curtin VC Professor Deborah Terry
congratulated Shugg on her appointment,
heralding a time of greater gender equality
across the industry.
INCUBATE THAT
Entrepreneurial
zeal has been given
a boost with the
announcement of a
new director for RMIT
Activator. Matt Salier
founded Flinders’ New Venture Institute
in 2013, which has since given support to
350 startups. At Activator, he’ll continue the
good work, providing students and alumni
with access to industry experts, mentors
and shared working spaces.
“The potential for future generations is
what drives my passion, and I’m excited by
the new opportunities that Activator will
bring,” Salier said. “While Activator has the
unique opportunity to shape startups from
a dynamic student base in Melbourne, this
uniqueness is amplified globally thanks
to the university’s significant presence in
Vietnam, Singapore and Barcelona.”