1996
CITATION
Award of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa
Dr Margaret Mittelheuser AM
Mr Chancellor,
Margaret Mittelheuser was educated at Brisbane Girls' Grammar School and the University of Queensland where she graduated Bachelor of Commerce and Associate in Accounting in 1952 and later as Bachelor of Arts in 1973. She has enjoyed a life of high professional achievement and community service within Queensland, especially to this University and its female students.
After a brief period with the Commonwealth Public Service, which she characteristically joined as the first female graduate in Queensland, Margaret Mittelheuser entered stock-broking in 1952 and established further records. In 1964 she became the first woman to be registered as a stockbroker in Australia and among the first in the world. She managed and led Brisbane stockbroking firms until 1983 when she became a self-employed Investment Consultant.
Her vast professional expertise and experience have caused her services to be always in high demand. She has been heavily involved in the affairs of the Queensland Art Gallery, the Girl Guides Association ( Qld) which awarded her its O lave Medal in 1986, the Board of Trustees of Brisbane Girls' Grammar School and their Restoration Building Appeal. She was a member of the Queensland Mortgage Secondary Market Board, 1991-1994, Chair of the Queensland Local Government Superannuation Board, 1991-1995, and a Member of the Board of Queensland Rail from 1991. Her professional achievements and community service led to her being made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1996.
We in the University have a particular debt to Margaret Mittelheuser. From her 1960 membership of the Australian Federation of University Women she developed a special interest in the Federation's Academic Dress Hire Service and in 1964 began to offer advice on the investment of funds. She has had a key role in the growth and development of this professionally operated and successful business. She promoted the incorporation of the Fellowship Fund of the Australian Federation of University WomenQueensland in 1983, served as its President, 1990-1992, and can rejoice today in its assets of several million dollars, the scholarships it provides worth more than $200,000 annually, and the contribution that it makes to ceremonies such as this through the hiring of academic dress. In this, as in other ways, Margaret Mittelheuser, one of the University's most eminent graduates, has continued to serve her University.
Mr Chancellor, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the University and to the State of Queensland, I present to you Margaret Mittelheuser, Member of the Order of Australia, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts of this University, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, for the conferral of the award of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa to which she has been admitted by the Senate of the University.