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4604•Di Yerbury Sirius SE Inside Trailblazing: The Yerbury Years A tribute to Professor Di Yerbury AO Vice-Chancellor and President 1987-2006 Macquarie University AUSTRALIA’S INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY SIRIUS SPECIAL EDITION 2005 Di Yerbury’s appointment as the first woman vice-chancellor of an Australian university was announced in March 1986. ‘The seed was sown in 1985 when I gave a graduation address at Macquarie. I thought the University had huge potential if it focused on its research strengths, its campus and location, and its original vision. In that way it could forge a distinctive edge and pursue its comparative advantages.’ An inspiring and Macquarie has been fortunate in having Professor Di Yerbury as Vice-Chancellor for dedicated leader nearly 20 years. In that time there have been significant reforms in higher education and changes to federal funding models. These inevitably presented new challenges, but Di built upon the strengths of Macquarie’s ’founding fathers’ and, through her vision and pursuit of high goals, the University’s reputation was greatly enhanced. The ‘3Ds’ of this success are difference and diversity; dynamic dedication; and distinctiveness. Di encouraged those who would not have dreamt of pursuing tertiary studies to do so. Flexible study modes and alternative admission pathways have provided equality of opportunity, particularly for women and those from disadvantaged backgrounds; while her dynamic dedication to excellence in scholarship and research and to a different approach to teaching and learning has earned the University its widely recognised distinction as ‘innovative’. Di’s abiding support for alumni relations, both in Australia and overseas, has benefited alumni greatly. They are very much part of the Macquarie family. On their behalf, thank you sincerely, Di, and may your retirement be happy and rewarding. Pamela Kenny Chair, Standing Committee of Convocation Di Yerbury has been an ardent supporter of Macquarie’s outreach to alumni and the community. Through participating in the Standing Committee of Convocation, frequently attending alumni events in Australia and overseas, and funding the alumni magazine, Sirius, she has shown an unyielding resolve to engage alumni with their University. I’ve been privileged to be Di’s friend and colleague since 1993. Before joining Macquarie I had the pleasure of working with her on the International Development Committee of the student-based Golden Key International Honour Society. She championed Golden Key’s introduction to Australia and across the globe, always sympathetic to the cultural nuances between countries. Di Yerbury’s leadership will leave a lasting impression on Macquarie, Golden Key, and many other organisations. For a person who has achieved so much, she is Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor Di Yerbury 1987 remarkably caring, friendly and loyal. I’m sure her star will only shine brighter as she pursues new challenges. Mark Herndon Director, Alumni Office Professor Yerbury has achieved the goal of all thinking and caring human beings. She has made a difference. Di leaves Macquarie University in an outstanding position. I regard her, the Chancellor and Council as overseeing the best managed university in the country. Her dealings with me, her colleagues, staff and students in her various capacities reflect on her as a person of strength, intellectual depth and sensitivity. The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training November 2005 1 She came into the room in a striking outfit of blue and green. My silly old mind kept saying ‘blue and green should not be seen’. But it was quickly apparent Three Chancellors that this was a challenger of orthodoxy and a top person, intellect, leader. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG HonLLD Macq. pay tribute to their Macquarie University Chancellor, 1984-1993 I can still remember the meeting of the Selection Committee in 1986 that chose Vice-Chancellor Di Yerbury as the recommended candidate for Vice-Chancellor. We had three outstanding possibilities. Two were external candidates whose career paths did not follow the ordinary one for Australian Vice-Chancellors. Di Yerbury was one of these. Although an academic, she had also pursued a career in federal departments and agencies. She came into the room in a striking outfit of blue and green. My silly old mind at first kept saying ‘blue and green should not be seen’. But it was quickly apparent that this was a challenger of orthodoxy and a top person, intellect, leader. A person to be seen, and listened to. Once appointed, Di Yerbury made it her business to meet everyone and not just the movers and shakers at Macquarie. She always added personal touches. She arranged events to celebrate excellence and achievement and to involve spouses and partners. She was generous in praise of others. She filled the University with artworks. In that initiative, the same orthodoxy sometimes popped up in me. Our taste in paintings and sculpture was completely different. When I would see her latest presentation on a University wall, I would remember Oscar Wilde’s deathbed description of the hotel wallpaper: ‘One of us has to go’. As with Oscar, so with me. In the end, it was I who went. But not until after a most creative and memorable partnership in the Council and activities of Macquarie. Di Yerbury’s insistence on excellence was reflected in the introduction of University medals. Her generosity to others was shown in the quick recognition of the founders and early academic staff of the University. Her love of art and the Macquarie environment is seen everywhere. I was privileged to be involved in graduation ceremonies that honoured Australian artists: Margaret Olley, James Gleeson, Peter Weir and many others. Di Yerbury is utterly devoid of unjust discrimination. She introduced me to Bob Bellear. She honoured Kath Walker (Oodgeroo of the Tribe Noonuccal, one of our greatest poets). How proud I am that Macquarie made the late Bob Bellear, the only Aboriginal yet to become a judge in Australia, an Honorary Doctor of Laws. To the end, he and his community were so proud of this recognition. She hates discrimination against women. All her life, she has carried the extra weights of being a highly visible woman leader. She was the first woman Vice-Chancellor in Australia, and what a success she has made of it. She retires at the end of 2005 as President of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, a great tribute from her peers. She will leave a University that achieves in scholarship and teaching excellence far beyond its size. An innovative university model, Macquarie is an exciting place. It is not a one person band. But Di Yerbury’s personality and intellect have left their imprint. It was a privilege for me to work with her. Now the intriguing question is: what next for this brilliant dynamo of ideas and action? 2 As Vice-Chancellor, Di Yerbury has run a tight ship with a firm hand on Macquarie’s finances, which is a major reason why Macquarie is today the least dependent of our 39 universities on government funding. M A (Tim) Besley AC HonDSc Macq. Maurice Newman AC Macquarie University Chancellor, 1994-2001 Macquarie University Chancellor 2002 – present Di Yerbury is a person of great tenacity, sense of purpose and boundless enthusiasm for Di Yerbury is one of the most remarkable people I have known. She’s a true one-off. her University. She is a prodigious worker who has guided Macquarie – Australia’s Di is down-to-earth with a keen sense of humour and a formidable intellect. She is Innovative University – to become one of the best Australian research institutions. deeply compassionate but can be as hard-nosed as anyone I have met when it comes As Vice-Chancellor, Di Yerbury has run a tight ship with a firm hand on Macquarie’s to the business end of Macquarie University. finances, which is a major reason why Macquarie is today the least dependent of our 39 universities on government funding. She has an extraordinary knowledge and love of all of the arts, especially Indigenous art, and the University has been a major beneficiary of her passion. During my eight years as Chancellor she worked on establishing and expanding Macquarie University’s Research Park – her ‘Silicon Gully’. She also pushed e- As a relatively new Chancellor, I can but admire the strength of character which has learning and put Macquarie at the forefront of this new teaching and learning propelled her through a man’s world, to the pinnacle of the tertiary education sector, technology. One of the issues we worked on together was a review of the operation of carrying her beloved Macquarie University with her. the University Council by an outside expert. This led to better and streamlined Through her dedication and leadership, Macquarie is now firmly established as a operational procedures for the University’s governing body. distinctive quality teaching and research institution, with a distinguished reputation at Di has over the years been very generous with loans and gifts from her considerable art home and abroad. She has enhanced its flexible approach to education and leaves collection to the University. a caring, inclusive and innovative culture – a truly enduring legacy. Notwithstanding her capacity to devote a substantial part of each day to Macquarie, As I said, Di Yerbury is a remarkable person. she always managed to have a laugh about things. I recall our hilarious handling of the dodgem car at one Conception Day celebration. On another occasion she told me through peals of laughter she had popped one of her contact lenses into her mouth on hold and then somehow managed to swallow it! Whenever she is able, Di joins in student and alumni activities. This is especially appreciated at gatherings in Macquarie’s Asian teaching and learning locations.
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