Fellows of Senate

Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO

Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO was farewelled at a special reception in the Great Hall on Tuesday 11 December 2012 at which the Deputy Chancellor Mr Alan Cameron AO was Master of Ceremonies.

– View the full program.
– View a gallery of the event.

At the reception:

the portrait of the Chancellor by Jiawei Shen was unveiled. The artist was chosen by Professor Bashir from a shortlist put together by the University. Professor Bashir sat for the artist four times over a period of five months, from June to October 2012. The portrait will be hung in the Great Hall.
the Chancellor was presented with a painting ‘Milk 8 (Banksia)’, by Helen Pynor, Sydney College of the Arts, who holds a PhD in visual arts. The Deputy Chancellor advised guests that the artwork depicts medicinal plants used by the Dharawal people, traditional owners of the southern Sydney and Illawarra region of NSW and seems fitting for the Chancellor, as she has championed the cause of the health of Indigenous Australians for many years. Banksia itself is a Dharawal remedy for ‘unsettled children’, which also seems appropriate for a person who has made such a significant contribution to child and adolescent mental health in this country. We wish to pay our respects to John Lennis and the Dharawal elders, who generously passed on their knowledge of the traditional Dharawal plant remedies to the artist.

– Read the Chancellor's farewell speech