Griffith University has conferred honorary doctorates upon two remarkable women in recognition of their outstanding achievements in nursing and midwifery, and the arts and entertainment industries.
Beth Mohle AM and Tracey Vieira have made significant contributions to not only the University, but to their communities and well beyond.
An inspirational leader in the nursing and midwifery professions, Ms Mohle was acknowledged for the impact she’s had on healthcare policy, industrial relations and advocacy for nurses and midwives.
Prior to completing a Bachelor of Arts with Griffith, she had already decided to follow in the footsteps of her mother, aunts and sister, graduating as a nurse from the (then) Royal Brisbane Hospital.
It was then that Ms Mohle began to see the need for leadership to ensure high quality, consistent working conditions, which nurses and midwives now enjoy thanks to her tireless campaigning.
She also led the push for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, which culminated in the Hospital and Health Boards (Safe Nurse-To-Patient and Midwife-To-Patient Ratios) Amendment Bill 2015.
These world-leading laws continue to save lives.
Ms Mohle has worked tirelessly for nurses and midwives in Queensland as a union organiser, in project management, policy and research, and most effectively in her former position as Secretary of the Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union of Employees.
In 2020, she was even named a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, aptly coinciding with the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
Tracey Vieira on the other hand, was conferred as Doctor of the University for her distinguished service to the arts, and to the film and entertainment industry in Queensland in particular.
Her career has included leadership roles in music, precinct development, visual arts and placemaking, plus pivotal roles at the Queensland Events Corporation, Pacific Film and Television Commission, and a decade in Los Angeles as Film Commissioner, where she promoted Australia’s screen industry internationally.
As Chief Content Officer for the Emmy® and BAFTA Award-winning production company Hoodlum, Ms Vieira was instrumental in expanding their global slate across television and feature films, with productions in development with industry giants such as ABC Signature, Fox, Peacock, Stan, Netflix, CBS International, and A&E.
In 2014, she became CEO of Screen Queensland, fostering growth and championing cultural change by introducing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategic Plan and a Gender Equity Policy.
She also served as Director of Home of the Arts (HOTA) Gold Coast and was the inaugural director of the Sunshine Coast Arts Advisory Board.
Currently, Ms Vieira is an advisor to US-based Australians in Film, President of the Screen Producers Australia Council, and Chair of the Griffith Film School Advisory Board and Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with the latter being instrumental in supporting and setting up the Asia Pacific Screen Lab.
Housed in Griffith Film School, the Lab is a screen incubator where members of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy mentor emerging talent to reach international recognition, giving the Film School an enormous boost in its outreach reputation.
Griffith is immensely proud to welcome both of these extraordinary champions as Honorary Doctors of the University and looks forward to supporting them in their future endeavours.
