Researchers and clinicians from UNSW Medicine dominate a list of staff and alumni whose achievements and commitment to service have been recognised among the 2015 Australia Day Honours.

The University congratulates all current and former staff, alumni, advisers, administrators and supporters who have been honoured this year.

UNSW Professors Ken Hillman and Denis Wakefield, and Conjoint Associate Professor Phillip Stricker have been appointed Officers of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO).

Ken Hillman, is a UNSW Professor of Intensive Care, Foundation Director of the Simpson Centre for Health Services Research and a practising intensive care clinician at Liverpool Hospital. He has been awarded an AO for “distinguished service to intensive care medicine as a clinician, educator and researcher, as a pioneer in the introduction of the medical emergency team system, and as an advocate for the critically ill”.

UNSW Professor Denis Wakefield is Associate Dean (Research) and Director of Medical Research at UNSW Medicine and Director of the Centre of Immunology and Head of Immunopathology with the South Eastern Area Health Service. He has been awarded an AO for “distinguished service to medicine, particularly in the field of ocular immunology and immunopathology, as a clinician, researcher and academic”.

Associate Professor Phillip Stricker is a prostate cancer specialist and holds a number of senior positions at the St Vincent’s Clinic. He is a Conjoint with UNSW’s Department of Surgery. He has been awarded an AO for “distinguished service to medicine and medical research, as a leading urologist, a robotic surgery pioneer, a teacher and mentor, and as an advocate for prostate cancer awareness”.

UNSW Professor Lisa Maher, Associate Professor David Lubowski, Adjunct Professor Mark Bouris, Conjoint Associate Professor Robert Smee, Conjoint Associate Professor Raymond Garrick and Conjoint Associate Professor Roy Beran all have been appointed Members of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM).

Lisa Maher is a Professor with UNSW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine and Program Head of the Viral Hepatitis Epidemiology and Prevention Program at the Kirby Institute at UNSW. She has been awarded an AM for “significant service to medicine in the field of epidemiology, particularly through academic research into illicit drug use”.

Mark Bouris is an Adjunct Professor at UNSW’s Business School, a member of the school’s Business Advisory Council and Executive Chairman of the Yellow Brick Road wealth management group. He has been awarded an AM for “significant service to the finance industry, particularly the home loan mortgage sector, to education, and to charitable organisations”.

Associate Professor David Lubowski from UNSW Medicine is also Head of the Department of Colorectal Surgery at St George Hospital. He has been awarded an AM for “significant service to medicine in the field of colorectal surgery as a clinician and researcher, and to professional organisations”.

Professor Roy Beran from Griffith University’s Faculty of Medicine is also a Conjoint Associate Professor with UNSW Medicine’s South Western Sydney Clinical School and a consultant neurologist. He has been awarded an AM for “significant service to medicine, particularly neurology, as a clinician, author and administrator, and to professional medical legal organisations”.

Associate Professor Raymond Garrick is a neurology specialist at the St Vincent’s Clinic and a Conjoint Senior Lecturer with UNSW Medicine. He has been awarded an AM for “significant service to medicine in the field of chronic pain management, and to medical education as an academic”.

Associate Professor Robert Smee is a senior specialist in radiation oncology at Prince of Wales Hospital and a Conjoint Associate Professor with UNSW Medicine. He has been awarded an AM for “significant service to medicine as a radiation oncologist, and through professional organisations and leadership roles”.

Professor Hans Bode is paediatrics specialist and Professorial Visiting Fellow with UNSW Medicine’s School of Women's & Children's Health. He has been awarded an OAM for “services to international relations through voluntary health roles in Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania”.

Alumni and other friends of UNSW to receive Honours included:

Professor Rosalind Croucher, President of the Australian Law Reform Commission, who completed her PhD with UNSW Law in 1994. Professor Croucher has been awarded an AO for “significant service to the law as an academic, to legal reform and education, to professional development, and to the arts”.

Douglas Eaton holds a number of civic and business roles, including Mayor of Wyong and principal of a private law firm. He is a commerce/law alumnus of UNSW and has been awarded an OAM for “service to local government, and to the community of the Central Coast”.

Media contact:  Steve Offner, UNSW Media, 02 9385 1583

Denis Wakefield
Lisa Maher
Mark Bouris crop