Annual Tuckwell Academic Dinner 2024
These events are significant and wonderful causes of celebration as a community, and speak to the impact and the legacy of the Tuckwell Scholarship Program
This week we celebrated our highly anticipated Annual Tuckwell Academic Dinner with ANU academics, Tuckwell Scholars, staff, and guest speakers including Head of Scholars House, Associate Professor Michelle Barrett.
The event, MCed by Program Director Dr Fiona Scotney, is growing each year, with this year having the highest number of ANU academics, with over 200 attendees in total!
“These events are significant and wonderful causes of celebration as a community, and speak to the impact and the legacy of the Tuckwell Scholarship Program,”
Dr Fiona Scotney
ANU Vice-Chancellor, Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell AO attended the event as an Academic guest, invited by a senior Tuckwell Scholar, Isaac Martin (2020).
Professor Grady Venville, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) also attended, and the keynote speaker was Professor Helen Sullivan, Dean of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific (CAP). Professor Sullivan is a political sociologist and public policy scholar, educated in the humanities and social sciences she holds degrees in Modern History and Political Science (BA Hons), Women’s Studies (MA), and Public Policy (PhD).
2015 Tuckwell Scholar, Lachlan Arthur delivered the Scholar speech this year, reminiscing on attending the very first Tuckwell academic dinner in 2015, captivating the audience by sharing some highlights of his journey so far including rowing at Oxford.
Lachlan completed a Bachelor of Philosophy (1st Class Honours) with a specialisation in medical research, then commenced Doctor of Medicine and Surgery in 2019.
When he was 2.5 years into the degree, he took a detour via Oxford as the South Australian recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship. Lachlan was the second Tuckwell Scholar (there have now been 4!) to become a Rhodes Scholar.
In the 10th year of the Scholarship Program, the annual Academic Dinner is well established and one of the most talked about and favoured traditions for the Tuckwell Community.
The first Academic Dinner was held in September 2015, the second year of the Program, at University House (where it was also held in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).
In 2020, the event was cancelled due to COVID-19. In 2021, it was held in Manning Clarke Hall, and in 2022, 2023 and this year, the event has been held at the National Museum, in the stunning Gandel Atrium.
The Tuckwell tradition of bringing Scholars and academics together for a formal evening of thought-provoking discussion, reflection and looking to the future, continues to be a highlight of the Program.
Thank you to all attendees for making the event an evening to remember for the ANU and Tuckwell community.
