Impact of Alumni Friends

Alumni Friends is focused on ensuring that world-class tertiary education is inclusive.

If you too would like to start creating an impact through giving, you can donate online through the following funds: Alumni Friends Fund or Classics and Antiquities Fund. 

• The Dentistry Alumni Special Interest Group (SIG): This was established in 1989 to foster mutually beneficial relations and a spirit of unity among dentistry students, graduates and the School of Dentistry. Over a period of thirty years, the Dentistry SIG has been an active supporter of, and donor to, the UQ School of Dentistry. Members have raised funds to purchase major items of equipment in total of over $250,000, including a $50,000 grant towards the purchase of Cone Beam Dental Imaging Equipment. Alumni Friends has also been responsible for the management of the David Dunlop Memorial Dental Bursary, which was established in 1993 in memory of David Dunlop, a graduate of the University and a respected member of the Queensland dentistry profession until his death in 1992. 
  
  In 2019, Alumni Friends of The University of Queensland Inc. transferred the David Dunlop Fund to UQ, establishing the new UQ David Dunlop Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship to support undergraduate students, especially those from rural and remote areas, studying in the UQ School of Dentistry who are facing financial hardship. 
   
• Physiotherapy Special Interest Group (SIG): Following an extensive review with long-standing members, it was agreed that the Physiotherapy SIG would close in 2018. It was further agreed the funds would be used to augment the important records of The History of Physiotherapy Education at The University of Queensland 1938-2038. With the support of the Head of School, it was proposed that a special project team be established to undertake this work, led by Emeritus Professor Gwendolen Jull AO.
  
  The funds for the project have resulted in a digital kiosk that displays year-group photos on Level 4 of the Therapies Building, and the funds continue to enable documents about the history of Physiotherapy at UQ into one digital web-resource "book", including graduate photos and other resources such as brief movie files from interviews with senior alumni. This history begins with the creation of the UQ Physiotherapy Program, from the establishment of the course by Dr Harold Crawford, the first Head of Physiotherapy through to current times. 
   
• UQ Red Lions AFC: UQAFC is greatly appreciative of the work of Alumni Friends, and as a club that has existed since 1956, they are proud to have old boys and old girls play an active role within the club at all levels, from coaching, to playing, to donors, to game-day supporters. The work Alumni Friends does and the investment made in clubs like UQAFC enables highly professional, connected, unified and fun environments for UQ students, alumni and the wider community to play and enjoy football, and all that comes with it.
   
• Medical Special Interest Group (SIG): Many members have maintained a very close connection with UQ’s Medical Faculty, not only through their participation in the Alumni Friends Medical SIG but also through fundraising and support. The numbers tell an impressive story of the relationship between Alumni Friends and the study of Medicine at UQ. Medical SIG records show donations of over $570,000 to the Faculty (actual sums—if inflation-adjusted equate to over $930,000 today). The largest total sums have been donated to the Museum, but the SIG members also supported the purchase of equipment (for example, a microscope for surgery in ophthalmology research, and for the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, as well as equipment and models for anatomical science). Money has also been donated to assist students and academics to attend conferences. Most importantly, funding was provided for the purchase of the Anatomical Sciences Book of Remembrance. On the closure of the Medical SIG, members approved the creation of two awards for UQ students: the Alumni Friends of The University of Queensland Medicine Prize and the Alumni Friends of The University of Queensland Indigenous Medicine Prize.
   
• The Joan Elizabeth Wickham Prize: This was first established in 2010, following a bequest to Alumni Friends from the Estate of Joan Wickham, who managed the Engineering Library from 1968 until her retirement in 1988. The Prize was awarded annually to a female student who achieved the highest GPA in the first four semesters of the Bachelor of Engineering or Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Program and was last awarded in 2019. Alumni Friends determined to replace the prize and instead  establish an undergraduate scholarship. In 2019, Alumni Friends of The University of Queensland Inc. donated funds to establish the Joan Elizabeth Wickham Memorial Scholarship to support female undergraduate students who are facing financial hardship and have a dream to study Engineering at UQ. The $59,000 donation, matched by UQ, provides a minimum annual scholarship of $5,000.
   
• EAIT Faculty: Since its foundation, Alumni Friends has donated the equivalent of over $300,000 to support the EAIT Faculty at UQ. Besides student scholarships and prizes, this has included support of UQ Racing, a donation to the UQ Hy-Shot program and donations to the MARS Project.
   
• The Fryer Library: In the March 1976 issue of Alumni News it was acknowledged that 'the Fryer Library has a special place in the hearts of Alumni'. The members and volunteers of Alumni Friends also hold a special place in the hearts of Fryer Library.
  
  Members of Alumni Friends, and volunteers working on the UQ Alumni Book Fair and associated Rare Book Auction, have been responsible for the donation and acquisition of many important books and manuscripts to the UQ Library —and in particular, to the care of the Fryer Library. The first donation of a rare book was recorded in 1968 (Gillies 1825 History of Ancient Greece), with the most recent being the donation of a very rare publication on number theory, Carl Friedrich Gauss' Recherches Arithmetiques published in French in 1807 and donated for restoration and display in association with the School of Mathematics and Physics).
  
  Funds donated to the Library have enabled the acquisition of the papers of a number of significant authors, including David Malouf, Thea Astley, Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Janette Turner Hospital. The Library is continuing to work on raising additional funds to start work on Stage Two of the Teaching Space, which in 2019 included an additional sum from Alumni Friends. 
   
• UQ Art Museum (UQAM): During the 2017 Philanthropists and Collections Exhibition UQAM reflected on Alumni Friends’ donation of over one third of a million dollars donated (actual sums) to the Art Museum, the equivalent of around $900,000 today, which UQAM recognise is an under-estimate as some artworks were not valued at time of donation. This has included significant donations of original works of art and/or funding to support the purchase of works of art representing the addition of over 100 pieces to the UQ Art Museum Collection, including works by Melville Haysom, Norman Lindsay, Daphne Mayo, Jon Molvig, and Sidney Nolan. Importantly, the Association has also supported improvements to Study and Display Spaces providing not only the significant sums for the Alumni Friends Collection Study Room, but also the significant donation for the 1975 Darnell Gallery renovation. 
   
• Alumni Friends’ HDR Dentistry Scholarship Endowment (Oral Health Hardship Research): This is a new perpetual scholarship, created to mark the 2019 closure of the Alumni Friends Dentistry SIG. The support of the many members and donors to the Alumni Friends Dentistry fund is gratefully acknowledged, including the donation of $20,000 from the Australian Dental Association Queensland and a top-up donation of $25,000 from Alumni Friends, $125,000, matched by UQ to establish an inflation-adjusted annual Scholarship of $12,000).
  Alumni Friends’ UQ Indigenous Medicine Prize Endowment: Funds have now been transferred to UQ to ensure the maintenance in perpetuity of the Prize first presented in 2019, following the closure of the Medical SIG ($25,425.23 to support an inflation-adjusted annual prize of over $1,000).
   
• Alumni Friends’ Medicine Prize Endowment: Funds have now been transferred to UQ to ensure the maintenance in perpetuity of the Prize first presented in 2019, following the closure of the Medical SIG ($25,425.23 to support an inflation-adjusted annual prize of over $1,000).
  Alumni Friends’ Veterinary Alumni Prize Endowment: Funds have now been established at UQ to support and maintain in perpetuity the Veterinary Science Prize, which was previously established by the Veterinary Science SIG. The value of the Prize has further increased with this donation and the closure of the SIG ($32,000 to support an inflation-adjusted annual prize of over $1,440).
   
• Betty Fletcher Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship: This is a new perpetual scholarship, established on behalf of Friends of Antiquity, to support undergraduate students studying Classics and Ancient History within the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry who are facing financial hardship ($50,000, matched by UQ to establish an inflation-adjusted annual Scholarship of $4,500).
  Betty Fletcher Memorial Travelling Scholarship: The fund will remain open for future donations to support this prestigious scholarship, first established by Friends of Antiquity in 1992 to support study-related travel for a student studying Classics and Ancient History within the School. Donations can be made by Friends of Antiquity or by individual members and supporters ($80,000—to support an annual Scholarship of $5,500).
   
• David Dunlop Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship: The original David Dunlop Prize was established in 1993 in memory of David Dunlop. During 2018-2019 there was an increase in the value of the fund managed by Alumni Friends following donations by the Dunlop family and by members of the dental profession (including by a former colleague of David Dunlop), enabling the Association to replace (‘upgrade’) the previous Prize. This donation established in perpetuity the David Dunlop Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship at The University of Queensland to support undergraduate students studying in the School of Dentistry who are facing financial hardship ($53,600—matched by UQ to establish an inflation-adjusted annual Scholarship of $4,500). 
   
• Elizabeth Usher Memorial Young Achievers Scholarship: This new Scholarship replaced the previous Elizabeth Usher Memorial Travelling Scholarship, which was established in 1999 following a bequest from the late Elizabeth Catherine Usher AO. Elizabeth Usher was a long-standing member of the Alumni Friends Association, who highly valued the importance of travel in her own career and was instrumental in the introduction of the study of Speech Therapy at UQ.
  
  In 2019, Alumni Friends determined to replace the previously-supported Elizabeth Usher Memorial Travelling Scholarship, and have now donated funds to establish a new perpetual Scholarship: the Elizabeth Usher Memorial Young Achievers Scholarship to support students who are facing financial hardship to achieve their potential through tertiary study at UQ ($80,000—matched by UQ to establish an inflation-adjusted annual Scholarship of $7,000).
   
• Great Court Race Prizes: These were first awarded by Alumni Friends in 1988. As no specific trust fund was maintained for these Prizes, the Committee determined to donate $25,000, which will fund future Prizes, in perpetuity, inflation-adjusted equivalent to the current level of $500 per winning student.
   
• Joan Elizabeth Wickham Memorial Scholarship Endowment: The Joan Elizabeth Wickham Memorial Scholarship has been established to support female undergraduate students who are facing financial hardship and have a dream to study Engineering at UQ. This is an ‘upgrade’, replacing a previous annual prize which had been awarded by Alumni Friends since 2010 with an endowed (i.e. perpetual) Scholarship ($57,000—matched by UQ to establish an inflationadjusted annual Scholarship of $5,000).
   
• Margaret Waugh Memorial Bursary: Funds have now been donated to UQ to support the continuation of this annual Bursary for academic study by a member of the University Library staff (donation of $8,253.04, to support an annual Award of $500, which will continue to be matched by the Library until the donated funds are exhausted). The fund will remain open for further donations, if made direct to UQ.
   
• Mary and Peter Londy Bursary: This Bursary of $1,000 is awarded to  a student facing financial hardship ($3,000, to ensure that the award is presented in 2020, 2021 and 2022). The fund will remain open for further donations, if made direct to UQ.
   
• Richard Spenser Hopkins Memorial Scholarship Endowment: This Scholarship was established to support undergraduate students studying Engineering who are facing financial hardship (preference for award to students studying in the area of Civil Design). The perpetual Scholarship has replacedg a previous annual Prize, established in 2004 ($66,500—matched by UQ to establish an inflation-adjusted annual scholarship of $5,500). 
   
• The UQ 3MT® People’s Choice Prize: The UQ 3MT® Prize was established in 2012, at the suggestion of Dr Stephen Papas OAM. The recipient is also now presented with the perpetual Prize, a trophy commissioned by Alumni Friends from the University Sculptor, Dr Rhyl Hinwood AM and an award of $1,000. A donation of $25,000 has enabled Alumni Friends to establish this Prize in perpetuity (inflation adjusted value of $1,000).
   
• Lisbeth Hopkins OAM Scholarship Endowment: In 2020, Alumni Friends donated $50,000 to establish the Lisbeth Hopkins OAM Scholarship at UQ to support postgraduate coursework students studying in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science who are facing financial hardship. The endowment commenced in 2021. Lisbeth Hopkins OAM is recognised as the founder of the UQ Alumni Book Fair®, and was acknowledged with life membership of Alumni Friends for her continued work at the UQ Alumni Book Fair® - in particular in connection to the Rare Books section - for 17 years. The Scholarship was established in recognition of the service and support of Lisbeth Hopkins OAM, and of all the UQ Alumni Book Fair® volunteers.
   
• The Honourable Dr Penelope Wensley AC Sports Scholarship: In 2020, Alumni Friends donated funds to establish The Wensley Sports Scholarship, named in honour of The Honourable Dr Penelope Wensley AC. The Honourable Dr Penelope Wensley AC served, with great distinction, as Patron of the Incorporated Society from 2008 until the 2020 formal closure of the Association (and founding of the new UQ Society, Alumni Friends). The creation of The Honourable Dr Penelope Wensley AC Sports Scholarship celebrates the support of the association for UQ students who also demonstrate sporting success. Most importantly, the naming of The Wensley Scholarship recognises the untiring support and service of the final Patron of the Association. The Gift of $50,000, and the accompanying matched funds, ensures that The Wensley Sports Scholarship Endowment will continue supporting students from its 2021 commencement.

Read the 2019-20 Donor Impact Report

Read about the Golden Jubilee Bursaries: Awarded 2017-18