Welcome from our Vice-Chancellor
If 2021 was a year of transition, in 2022 we channelled all our energies back to what we do best: making a positive and lasting difference to the communities we partner with around the world.
In 2022 we welcomed almost 18,000 new alumni to our global community of more than 306,000 Deakin graduates. During the past 12 months, we were pleased to reconnect with thousands of alumni, donors, and partners – over the phone, online, and crucially, in person again.
Of course, behind every number there’s a person and a story, and that’s the focus of this publication.
Some of you may know the story of the late Dr Damion Drapac. Damion represented the best of Deakin’s values – he joined us as a postgraduate, eager to start a long-awaited career journey to become a doctor. Damion thrived in our Rural Community Clinical School, and spent a year of his studies based in Daylesford. Damion’s life was sadly cut short, not long after his graduation. But thanks to the love and vision of his father Michael, Damion’s spirit lives on at Deakin, and will guide the journeys of the next generation of doctors who share his passion.
The Damion Drapac Centre for Equity in Health Education will offer life-transforming scholarships to Deakin medical students from disadvantaged, diverse, and regional backgrounds. And it will do so in perpetuity. Thank you to Michael for trusting Deakin with this history-making gift.
Speaking of our commitment to regional communities, the remarkable scholarship program driven by those living near our Warrnambool campus raised $885,000 last year. It is astounding to see such grassroots investment in our Warrnambool students, and in the future of their communities.
Alistair McCosh has spent much of his adult life connected to – and advocating for – the Warrnambool campus, and as our story shows, he’s just getting started!
I’m proud that we can share in these pages the incredible work of HOME. This is a distinctively Deakin collaboration between experts from diverse research disciplines. Their shared aim is to tackle the deep and interconnected challenges of housing supply, and to create a home for all. Because of the genuine relationships formed between HOME and partners from government, the building sector, and charitable organisations, our architecture students have created seven new compact homes to house formerly homeless men living in Geelong. What a remarkable demonstration of how teaching, research, and engagement can align and deliver for the community.
The truth is, each edition of The dKin Difference could be written many times over, such is the support we receive from you. The following stories are but a window into how your generosity is making a real difference to the lives of many.
I look forward to catching up with you soon at one of our events for donors, alumni, and partners. I’d love to hear your story.
Professor Iain Martin
Vice-Chancellor