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Alumni Award for Professional Achievement
Excellence in industry, professional and research sectors
This award recognises outstanding achievements of alumni in their professional fields. This category is very broad in recognising achievements from an individual’s profession.
To be eligible, nominees must meet the following selection criteria:
- Nominees must have graduated from the University of Sydney.
- Nominees must demonstrate significant achievement in industry, professional and research sectors.
2024 winner
Louise Herron AM
Bachelor of Laws '81, Bachelor of Arts '86
CEO, Sydney Opera House
What piece of advice would you give your younger self?
To embrace uncertainty. While the world is unpredictable and plans change, what matters is how we respond. I’ve always loved being thrown off course. It’s exciting. So instead of worrying about far-off ambitions, I prefer to be ready for whatever challenges and opportunities arise and approach them with curiosity and joy.
My fondest memory is watching French films in Carslaw 2 on Tuesday afternoons, then going to Manning Bar lawn for long conversations with friends about the meaning of the films, and life. The bookclub I have been part of for the last twenty years draws its inspiration from these sessions.
While I’ve been CEO of the Sydney Opera House for more than a decade, it’s no exaggeration to say that I’m more excited than ever about what we have in store next. The recent 50th birthday celebrations revealed a deep, profound sense of connection between the Opera House and the people around it. That didn’t come as a surprise: we’ve spent a lot of time in recent years looking at how we can engage more deeply with audiences and artists in our backyard. The challenge now is to build on this momentum by transforming the Opera House into Everyone’s House. In the years to come, when we look back at this moment, I suspect we’ll see this as the start of an exciting new chapter both for the Opera House and for culture in Australia more generally.
Biography
Louise Herron AM has been CEO of the Sydney Opera House since 2012, after careers as a lawyer and corporate adviser. Louise has delivered a far-reaching decade of renewal to open the Opera House up to more of the community, with a broader, more diverse range of programming and other experiences to welcome more visitors in person and online. Louise is also the Chair of the NSW Government’s Creative Communities Council.
Louise graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from Sydney University, followed by a Master of Laws from the University of London. Her sons Dougal and Fin Robinson are Old Sydneians.
I've always loved being thrown off course. It's exciting.
Louise Herron AM
