CITATION
Award of Doctor of the University honoris causa
Dr Maureen Aitken
Chancellor,
Dr Maureen Aitken has been Principal and Head of The Women's College within The University of Queensland since 1990.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in French Language and Literature, a Graduate Diploma in Education and a Doctor of Philosophy from The University of Queensland.
Dr Aitken has been active in both Australian residential college and alumni activities.
She is President of The University of Queensland Chapter of the Australian Heads of Colleges Association and the immediate Past President of the Alumni Association Inc. of The University of Queensland.
She is also the Vice-President of the Queensland branch of the Australian Federation of University Women and an Executive Member of the Australian Universities Alumni Council.
Dr Aitken has served as Secretary of the National Association of Heads of Australian University Colleges and Halls of Residence.
She has also served as a member of the Queensland Department of Education's Curriculum Development Committee and Language Reference Group.
An active participant in promoting female participation in tertiary educaiton, she was a founding member of the International Women's Education Worldwide group which met in Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, Massachusetts, USA, in 2004.
The group now meets biennially throughout the world and enjoyed Rockefeller Foundation sponsorship at their Institute on Lake Como, Italy, in August this year.
Dr Aitken has shown strong support for the University, College life and women's participation in tertiary education.
She was Head of Modern Languages at Ipswich Girls Grammar School, and a Lecturer in Humanities, specifically foreign languages, at the UQ School of Music, the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, and, at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
Chancellor, in recognition of her distinguished career and contribution to the University and as Principal of The Women's College, i present to you Dr Maureen Aitkne, Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours, Graduate Diploma in Education and a Doctor of Philosophy from The University of Queensland, for the award of Doctor of the University honoris causa to which she has been admitted by the Senate of the University.