Annual Tuckwell Senior Scholars Symposium 2025
This year, at the Tuckwell Senior Scholars Symposium there was a focus on values.
Values in leadership, business, and politics.
Held at Mount Stromlo each year, the Symposium is designed for final and penultimate year Scholars, with a focus beyond the technical, to psychosocial skills like communication, leadership, adaptability, and creativity.
Guest speakers included:
Professor Brian Schmidt, Former Vice Chancellor of ANU, 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics recipient, Distinguished Professor and astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the ANU Mount Stromlo Observatory.
Peta Swarbrick from Women for Election. Peta is an Equip Power Trainer for Women for Election and ran in the 2020 ACT election as a Canberra Progressive candidate and is the former President of Canberra Women in Business.
Sita Sargeant founder of She Shapes History, an organisation that offers walking tours about "how women have shaped history in the places where they’ve shaped history." She is also the author of the forthcoming book She Shapes History (Hardie Grant Explore, 2025).
In the later part of the day, Scholars engaged with a career pathways panel featuring an array of expert panelists:
Anna Fieldhouse – Director, Department of Social Services, Sir Ronald Wilson PhD Scholar
Ryan Winn – CEO, Science and Technology Australia
And
Abi Rajkumar (2014 Scholar) – Tuckwell Alum, and advisor to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC MP.
It was a fantastic day for Scholars and staff – with the event fast becoming an annual Tuckwell highlight with valuable insights shared in a stunning environment.
Thank you to all guest speakers for taking the time to be part of this valuable event.
A special thank you to Abi Rajkumar (2014) for being part of our afternoon panel of experts - an engaging and inspiring discussion. And also a special thank you to Patrick O'Connor (2021) for being an excellent tour guide! (the meteorite fragment, telescopes and the giant wombat were fascinating!)
Thank you to all Scholars and staff that attended to make it a fruitful day.
