Leaders of the future

UNSW has scooped the pool in a national awards program that recognises excellent academic achievement and future leadership potential.

UNSW graduates David Hume, Frances Voon and Colonel Roger Noble received three of eight 2008 General Sir John Monash Awards, which enable outstanding Australian citizens to undertake postgraduate study at the world's best universities.

David Hume, 24, is currently the Associate to the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. He has degrees in Arts and Law from UNSW. He will use his Monash Award to study for a Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford University, focusing on human rights law for minority groups such as indigenous people, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and people living in rural areas.

Frances Voon, 25, has Arts and Law degrees from UNSW. She will use her Monash Award to study for a Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Oxford University. Her area of interest is refugees who have been in camps for a long time in poor and unstable parts of the world.

Colonel Roger Noble, 41, has a degree in Arts (Honours) from UNSW@ADFA and a Masters in Business Administration from Deakin University. He intends to study for a Masters of International Public Policy at John Hopkins University, USA. Roger will study current and emerging security challenges for Australia's Defence Forces.

The awards were presented by the Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffery, who is the Patron in Chief of The General Sir John Monash Foundation, at a special ceremony at Government House, Canberra.

For more information on the awards click here.

Image captions: UNSW Deputy Chancellor Gabrielle Upton with Colonel Roger Noble (left) and Frances Voon and David Hume (right) at the Monash Awards presentation ceremony.