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Tuckwells praised for
$ 50m scholarship donation
Graham Tuckwell Photo by Adam Da Cruz
Successful Australian businessman Graham Tuckwell and his wife Louise have given a generous slice of their fortune to the Australian National University to support the education of students in one of the largest donations ever made to an Australian university.
The entrepreneur, who was born in Canberra, decided to donate $ 50 million to help set up what could be likened to an Australian version of the Rhodes Scholarship.
Twenty-five undergraduates from across the country will be chosen to take up the Tuckwell scholarships worth up to $ 100,000 each.
Beginning next year, the program will award 25 Tuckwell scholarships with a value of $ 20,000 a year for up to five years, which will aid students with accommodation and living expenses.
Having graduated from ANU in 1978 with a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws in 1981, Tuckwell praised his worldclass education that led him to succeed in global finance.
He said he and his wife, a Queensland university alumnus, both benefitted from their education and would like to give that opportunity to other young Australians.
“ The Tuckwell Scholarship program is aimed at providing scholars with a collegial and well-rounded campus experience,” he said.
“ While at university, clearly there’ s a certain amount of high-quality academic work that’ s got to be done, but equally
Julia Gillard(@ JuliaGillard) Meeting Graham Tuckwell, a great Australian who’ s made the biggest ever donation to an Australian University. TeamJG pic. twitter. com / rSEfP9Ao 1:22 AM- 05 Feb 13
you’ ve got to enjoy yourself and develop as a citizen. That’ s what we would like to see these Tuckwell Scholars do.”
The scholars will be selected from a cohort of school-leavers whose ATAR is 95 or above and who display a rounded set of attributes.
Tuckwell and his wife will sit on the selection panel that will look for the best and brightest people from a variety of disciplines. The panel will also consider background and motivation as well as grades.
The aim is to bring students from diverse backgrounds from all around Australia together to a single university. The panel will be looking for students who want to contribute to society.
ANU vice-chancellor Professor Ian Young said he was“ enormously impressed” by the couple’ s vision adding that the donation may prove to be transformative for philanthropy in Australia.
“ I’ m very hopeful that this will act as a catalyst for other philanthropists to make similar donations to Australian universities,” Young said.
Australian Greens higher education spokeswoman Senator Lee Rhiannon said the donation highlights the difficulties many students face living on Youth Allowance while attending university.
Rhiannon said the Tuckwells’ generosity is laudable but throws a spotlight on the federal government failure to address the barriers many students face.“ Many students are living in poverty, with rental assistance not coming close to meeting accommodation costs.”
She said the risk is that major parties will see philanthropy as an alternative for government funding to support students.
However, the gift was commended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott.
“ It is a philanthropic venture of truly awesome scale,” said Gillard, who met with Graham Tuckwell upon the announcement.
Abbott also praised Tuckwell for his generosity:“ Fifty million dollars to fund scholarships for people who might otherwise be unable to attend one of our finest universities is a truly remarkable gift to our nation.” ■
4 | Issue 2 2013