Alumni awards
Each year we formally recognise alumni achievements. Find out how to nominate yourself or others for an award.
It's important to recognise the achievements of our past graduates – to shine a light on those creating positive change, building stronger communities and demonstrating leadership in their industries.
The Federation University Alumni Awards is an annual celebration of the professional, academic, community and service‑based contributions that alumni have made locally, nationally and around the world.
Award categories
For alumni aged 35 and over.
For alumni aged 34 and under.
For international alumni who have been living and working somewhere other than Australia for more than three years since graduation.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander alumni.
For alumni who have made a significant social impact on a community (local or international), population/group and/or the University through volunteering.
For alumni who have made an exceptional contribution to a particular field of endeavour and pursued excellence in everything they do.
For alumni who made an exceptional contribution to a particular field of endeavour and pursued excellence in everything they did.
Do you know someone who deserves recognition?
Past award recipients
Alumnus of the Year: Stuart Benjamin
Field of study: Education
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Young Alumna of the Year: Brooke Tahir
Field of study: Science
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Alumni Award for Community Service: Abdel Halabi
Field of study: Business
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumni Award for Community Service: Abdul Rasuli
Field of study: Engineering
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Jane Burton
Field of study: Applied science
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Richard Elkington
Field of study: Engineering
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Elizabeth Morton
Field of study: Business
Nomination category: Outstanding academic or research achievement
Distinguished Alumna: Toni Wakefield
Field of study: Business
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
Alumnus of the Year: Tim Shaw
Field of study: Business
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumna of the Year: Leah Mether
Field of study: Arts
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
International Alumnus of the Year: Palaniappan Ramanathan Chettiar
Field of study: Education
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Young Alumna of the Year: Stephanie Mundy
Field of study: Sports science
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Alumnus of the Year: Michael Harding
Field of study: Visual arts
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Alumna of the Year: Nikki Foy
Fields of study:
- Community service
- Education
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumni Award for Community Service: Harpreet Kandra Singh
Field of study: Education
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: Arifin
Field of study: Business
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Sae Ra Germaine
Field of study: Computing
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
Distinguished Alumnus: Omaru Maruatona
Field of study: Cybersecurity
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Doris Paton
Field of study: Education
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna (posthumously): Jan Feder
Field of study: Ceramics
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumnus of the Year: Justin Mohamed
Field of study: Business
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Alumna of the Year: Jaz Flowers
Field of study: Performing arts
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
International Alumnus of the Year: Dallas Cuddy
Field of study: Cookery
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Alumnus of the Year: Ronald Edwards-Pepper
Field of study: Visual arts
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Alumna of the Year: Deanne Gilson
Fields of study:
- Visual arts
- Teaching
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumni Award for Community Service: Ian Gibson
Field of study: Economics
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumni Award for Community Service: Jennifer Beer
Fields of study:
- Business
- Teaching
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: Graeme Drendel
Field of study: Arts
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Murray Gillin
Field of study: Metallurgy
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Neil Terrill OAM
Field of study: Chemistry
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus (posthumously): Dennis Spielvogel
Field of study: Teaching
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Alumna of the Year (Gippsland): Mary Aldred
Field of study: Business
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Alumnus of the Year (Gippsland): Keith Hamilton
Field of study: Education
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumnus of the Year (Ballarat): David Noonan
Field of study: Art
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Alumna of the Year (Ballarat): Leigh Russell
Field of study: Teaching
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
International Alumnus of the Year: Sanjay Bharwani
Field of study: Technology
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Alumna (Gippsland): Christine Johnson
Field of study: Education
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Alumna (Ballarat): Jodie Sizer
Field of study: Commerce
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: Barry Dunstan
Field of study: Education
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Merle Hathaway
Field of study: Arts
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Rosie King
Field of study: Business
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Ian Nethercote
Field of study: Engineering
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Robert Malachy (RM) Serjeant
Field of study: Engineering
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to Federation University or its predecessor institutions
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: John Sullivan
Field of study: Engineering
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Alumnus of the Year: Michael Poulton
Field of study: Education
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Alumna of the Year: Dayle Stevens
Field of study: Information technology
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
International Alumnus of the Year: Samuel Mayo
Field of study: Information technology
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Rodney Beach
Fields of study:
- Arts
- Education
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Benjamin Cole
Field of study: Visual arts
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumna: Dr Elizabeth Lewis-Gray
Field of study: Business
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: Dr Gregory McRae
Field of study: Mechanical engineering
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Vernon Wall
Field of study: Performing arts
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Dr Jeanette Watson
Field of study: Geology
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Julia (Bella) Guerin
Field of study: Teaching
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to the University
- Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: Dr David Stratton
Field of study: Information technology
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding service to the University
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumna of the Year: Dr Rachel Flynn
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Alumnus of the Year: Tim Diamond
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
International Alumna of the Year: Emily Ying Situ
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumna: Dr Margaret Heffernan OAM
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: Dr Louis William Gordon Buchner-Malcolm
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to the University, outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumna: Heather Pitman
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Henry Sutton
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
Alumna of the Year: Ann Gervasoni
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
Alumnus of the Year: Leon Newnham
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
International Alumnus of the Year: Saeed Al Muharrami
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding academic or research achievement
- Outstanding service to the community
- Outstanding service to the University
Distinguished Alumnus: Martin Andanar
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: Kenneth Ogden
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Distinguished Alumnus: RW (Dick) Richards
Nomination category: Significant contributions to the field of science
Alumnus of the Year: Andrew Russell
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Alumna of the Year: Maryann Brown
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
Young Alumna of the Year: Catherine HarrisCatherine Harris
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement and outstanding service to the community
Distinguished Alumnus: Peter Blackburn
Nomination category: Significant contribution to the field of sport
Distinguished Alumnus: Robert Foo Hee Chong AM
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community and his pre-eminent contribution to community health and local government
Distinguished Alumna: Jacqueline Dark
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Alumnus of the Year: Grant Meredith
Nomination category: Outstanding service to the community
International Alumnus of the Year: Shane Armstrong
Nomination category: Outstanding professional achievement
Young Alumnus of the Year: Robert Layton
Nomination category: Outstanding academic or research achievement
International Alumnus of the Year: Alfredo Pires
Nomination categories:
- Outstanding professional achievement
- Outstanding service to the community