Vice-Chancellor shares his pride in launch speech

The Tuckwell Scholarship program was launched last week on Tuesday 5 February 2013 by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Young AO. In his speech he shared his joy about the gift and vision that sits behind the program. He also articulated how proud the University was in being able to count Graham as on of its alumni.

Launch of the Tuckwell Scholarship

ANU Commons, ANU, 5 February 2013

Address by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Young AO

It is with great pleasure and honour that I have the opportunity today to announce one of Australia’s most transformational and forward thinking scholarship programs.

The new Tuckwell Scholarship program was born from a vision of one of our most distinguished graduates Graham Tuckwell and his wife Louise.

At the heart of this vision is a desire to see a program that nurtures talented young students to fulfil their potential and reinvest their knowledge, skills and experience in ways that positively benefit others. The program has a focus on giving back to Australia and is the only one of its kind that nurtures Scholars to fulfil their broader community ambitions over and above the pursuit of an undergraduate degree.

In support of the scholarship the Tuckwells have made a gift of $50 million to the University through the Graham & Louise Tuckwell Foundation. This gift is the largest gift ever to an Australian university from Australians and the largest gift ever given to an Australian university for the benefit of students.

On behalf of the University and our community I would like to deeply and sincerely thank Graham and Louise for their most generous and visionary gift.

It is unlike anything that has come before it.

We really are very proud to count Graham as a member of our community and a distinguished alumnus.

Graham graduated from ANU in 1978 with a Bachelor of Economics with Honours and then again in 1981 with a Bachelor of Laws. After ANU Graham built a standout career in corporate advisory and investment banking in Australia and London before going on to found and chair ETF Securities Limited, a leading issuer of Exchange Traded Products, a concept that Graham invented. The company has around $30 billion in assets, making it the seventh largest ETP firm in the world.

He is the very definition of success. But he is more than that. He is a man of vision and generosity, who along with Louise will have a profound and long lasting impact on Australia through the Tuckwell Scholars.

Before I invite Graham to speak and share his vision for the scholarship I would like to heartily commend Graham and Louise for their involvement in shaping a scholarship program which will be truly transformative, not only to our University and our students but to the nation. Their vision is as unique as it is far-reaching and I am extraordinarily excited to welcome it as a key program of the University.

I would now like to invite Graham to talk to you about his vision after a short video presentation.

Thank you