Griffith University has recognised its best and brightest researchers, professional and support staff and teaching excellence at a gala event in Brisbane on 25 November.

The Vice Chancellor’s Gala Awards brought together three existing awards ceremonies for the first time — Research Excellence Awards, Professional and Support Staff Awards and Griffith Awards for Excellence in Teaching.

“These awards celebrate many of our hard working and talented staff who, despite the challenges of the past 18 months, have continued to innovate, make discoveries and to go above and beyond to help build a brighter future,” Professor Evans said.

“I am very proud of our award recipients and all our colleagues in the Griffith community who work hard every day to make a difference and enhance the experience of our students.”

Research Excellence Awards

  • Research Leadership
    • Director at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Professor Katherine Andrews was recognised for her ground-breaking malaria research and work to raise the profile of women in STEM.
  • Outstanding Research Excellence
    • A team including Professor Maxime Aubert from Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research and Professor Adam Brumm, from the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution has been recognised for the discovery and dating of the oldest known rock art on Earth, a scene depicting a Sulawesi pig in an Indonesian limestone cave, which is 45,000 years old.
  • Research Engagement
    • Associate Professor Matthew Burke from the Cities Research Institute was awarded for his work partnering with government and industry around best practice public transport infrastructure.
  • Promoting Industry Engagement for Graduate Students
    • Professor Yongsheng Gao accepted the award on behalf of the ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention, which facilitates on-site research and development work for HDR students.
  • Supervision
    • Associate Professor Lauren Ball from the School of Health Sciences and Social Work and ndMenzies Health InstituteQueensland was recognised for her suite of strategies to support researchers, including a co-designed handbook, knowledge database, media training, professional development workshops, weekly ‘huddles’ and a YouTube series, How to Research.
    • Professor Catherine Pickering from the School of Environment and Science and andCentre for Planetary Health and FoodSecurity, whose successful Quantitative Literature Review Method has supported the publication for more than 300 HDR students. These reviews are cited seven and a half times the rate of other publications.
  • Group or Team
    • Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen and the Micro Systems Team from Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre. He led the team to multiple breakthroughs in cutting edge technology for environmental and biological applications.
  • Mid-Career Researcher
    • Professor Tanya Smith from Griffith’s Centre for Social and Cultural Research was recognised for her outstanding contribution to anthropological research, including the publication of The Tales Teeth Tell, a book about surprising ways in which teeth illuminate ancient human development.
  • Early Career Researcher
    • Dr Jamie Ranse from Menzies Health Institute Queensland for his timely contribution to emergency healthcare in highly visible, large-scale events, including emergencies. Dr Ranse helped to shape Queensland’s COVID-safe events guidelines.

Professional and Support Staff Awards

  • Excellence in Enhancing Research
    • Research Development Manager Dr Brit Winnen, from the Office for Research, has been acknowledged for her tireless work identifying interdisciplinary research opportunities that are strategically aligned.
  • Excellence in Enhancing Student Experience
    • The Health, Counselling and Wellbeing Team. Ms Emma Morgan, Director, and Dr Jonathan Munro, Head of Counselling and Wellbeing, lead the 40-strong team, which has been recognised for always being there for students, including remote and offshore, during unprecedented work and study conditions.
  • Excellence in Community Engagement and Service Award
    • The Facilities Management Northern Campuses, Campus Life Team was acknowledged for its tireless work during COVID-19 to remain adaptable in the face of evolving rules and regulation. The team, led by Facilities Manager Craig Shannon, was also recognised for its conservation efforts.
  • Excellence in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award
    • Griffith Business School First Peoples Working Learning and Teaching Committee, for its work developing and embedding the framework for teaching First Peoples inclusion content and cultural competency in the Bachelor of Business.
  • Excellence in Innovation Award
    • Robotic Processing Automation Team. Senior Manager, Experience Design and Improvement, Rod Netterfield accepted the award for their dedication to empowering colleagues with technological skills to creatively problem solve and create efficiencies.
  • Excellence in Enhancing Teaching
    • Mrs Jessica Yuen, Senior Executive Officer in Pro Vice Chancellor Business accepted the award on behalf of a project team that revamped the Bachelor of Business to ensure cutting edge curriculum, including interdisciplinary foundation.
  • Excellence in Client Partnership Award for HEW 6-10
    • Student Connect Manager Mark L’Estrange was awarded for his coordination of the retention and progression exercise for offshore students throughout COVID-19 and recognised for his tenacity, patience and dedication.
  • Excellence in Client Partnership Award for HEW 1-5
    • Administrative Support Officer in the School of Information and Technology Mel Gilbert was recognised for her proactive commitment, hard work and reliability.

Griffith Awards for Excellence in Teaching

  • Vice Chancellor’s Award for Griffith University Teacher of the Year
    • Associate Professor Stephanie Schleimer from Griffith Business School. She refreshed the MBA program to ensure it had a values-based, sustainability focus and it was subsequently ranked Number 1 worldwide in the Corporate Knights Better World MBA Rankings.
  • Vice Chancellor’s Award for Griffith University Education Leader of the Year
    • Associate Professor Kylie Burns, Griffith Law School. As Deputy Head of the School, Kylie uses analytics to inform coordinated support for first year students, provides professional development in student support and led a university working group on retention.
  • Group Excellence in Teaching Award
    • Associate Professor Stephanie Schleimer, MBA Director, Griffith Business School, for her award-winning reinvigoration of the MBA program.
    • Senior Lecturer Lise Johns, Senior Lecturer, School of Human Services and Social Work in Griffith Health, for her constructive ‘students as partners’ approach ensuring students are ready to enter social work with confidence.
  • Group Education Leadership Award
    • Associate Professor Kylie Burns from Griffith Law School, recognised for establishing a learning and teaching community of practice in the School, leading its response to COVID-19 and continued improvement of program and courses.
    • Dr Kirsten MacDonald, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, awarded for over 10 years of sustained leadership in learning and teaching at Griffith Business School, enhancing program quality and student graduate employment outcomes, through design and delivery of Financial Planning programs from 2010-2020.
    • Professor Jane Evans from the School of Medicine and Dentistry was recognised for her evidence-based teaching and leadership for dual bachelors of Dental Technology and Dental Prosthetics. As inaugural program director, Jane led design and benchmarked internationally, creating transportable qualifications.
    • Professor Caryl Bosnan from the School of Engineering and Built Environment was awarded for leadership, including in her current role as Discipline Head, Architecture and Design. Caryl led the accreditation of the Master of Architecture, building on her significant contribution in the Planning discipline.
  • Higher Education Academy Principal Fellows
    • Professor Elizabeth Cardell, Deputy Head, School of Medicine and Dentistry, recognised for her contribution to allied health assessment and quality as an accreditor, review assessor and expert. She pioneered simulated learning activities with far-reaching impact on health students that led to a change in national policy for speech pathology clinical education.
    • Professor Roianne West from the School of Nursing and Midwifery was recognised for her impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. Roianne is foundation Professor of First Peoples Health and established the First Peoples Health Unit. She designed, development and implemented Australia’s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework.

Australian Awards for University Teaching

  • 2020 Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
    • Associate Professor Gary Grant and lecturer, Ms Denise Hope from the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, on behalf of the Pharmacy Innovation team. They were recognised for the design and delivery of a Bachelor of Pharmacy capstone activity, PharmG, an authentic, gamified pharmacy simulation, which emulates community pharmacy practice.
    • Dr Leanne Kenway from the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences was recognised for her approach to teaching anatomy and physiology. Through a range of active learning strategies, including a 3D digital cadaver, Skeletal Scrabble and weekly Who Am I? quizzes, Dr Kenway enhances retention and improves grades.
  • 2019 Award for Teaching Excellence
    • Professor Richard John, Discipline Head, School of Environment and Science, for his leadership in STEM education in Australia from pre-K to university. A passionate advocate for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, Richard is a mentor and coach as well as Dean, Learning and Teaching, with a focus on first year chemistry courses designed to retain students from diverse backgrounds.
  • 2019 Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
    • Dr Sarah-Jane Gregory, Lecturer in the School of Environment and Science, for the holistic and innovative curriculum for undergraduate science programs, including co-curricular activities. She uses technology to cater for diverse learning needs.
    • Associate Professor Brooke Harris-Reeves, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences and Social Work, for employability-focused curriculum, which create experiences for Bachelor of Sport Development students that help to establish a professional identity and career purpose.
    • Dr Taeko Imura, Senior Lecturer from the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, for her commitment to innovation and engaging, transformative education. Taeko contributes to student employment outcomes through establishment of an annual career event with the Consulate General Japan.
    • Associate Professor Christopher Love, Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment and Science, for active learning and student-staff partnerships that contribute to engagement and learning success in biochemistry and molecular biology. Students are helped to think scientifically, rather than learning facts about science.

Internationalisation Awards

  • Outstanding contribution to overall internationalisation
    • Professor Stuart Bunn, Director of the Australian Rivers Institute, for his contribution to Griffith’s international reputation for excellence in water science, through the development of a network of international collaborators and strategic partnerships.
    • Associate Professor Jane Fowler from the School of Human Services and Social Work, for exemplary leadership of a DFAT-funded Papua New Guinea Program resulting in a Graduate Certificate in Counselling for participants which has the potential to be extended across the Pacific.
  • Most outstanding contribution to the development of short term global mobility programs
    • The Tourism Study Tour team. Professor Charles Arcodia and Dr Margardia Abreu Novais from the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management in Griffith Business School accepted the award on behalf of the team, recognised for a tour which invites multinational participants to apply international industry and community knowledge to analyse sustainability, authenticity and competitiveness of destinations.

All award winners in attendance at the event on Thursday 25 November, along with Vice Chancellor and President Professor Carolyn Evans and Chancellor Henry Smerdon AM DUniv.

4: Quality Education
UN Sustainable Development Goals 4: Quality Education