Welcome from our Vice-Chancellor
The biggest challenges facing our world require collective action. Each of us carries the spark that enables innovation and transformation – but it’s when we come together, with shared purpose and genuine ambition, that lasting change becomes possible.
In November 2025, Deakin University launched Together – our first dedicated philanthropic and engagement campaign, and the largest in our history. Together is a call to our entire community to imagine what is possible and make it real – to spark discoveries, open pathways and drive change where it is needed most, building on our enduring commitment to equity, access and progress. The response from the Deakin community has been remarkable.
We are raising $150 million and connecting with 150,000 alumni and the momentum is real: more than $98 million raised, more than 100,000 alumni engaged. These are not just numbers. They represent scholarships that are rewriting futures, research that is answering urgent questions and partnerships that are turning possibility into practice.
The timing of this Campaign was intentional. We spent 2025 proudly reflecting on our first 50 years, and in doing so, began to imagine the coming five decades and beyond. The next chapter has already begun.
The first cohort of Dawn Wade Foundation Scholars has recently commenced their studies at Deakin. Each scholar’s journey here has taken a different trajectory, but they have been brought together to live on campus and be supported to excel. They will transform themselves, their families and their communities. This is the largest equity scholarship program in our University’s history, made possible through a conversation with a family who believe deeply in Geelong and in addressing global inequality. This is how philanthropy catalyses change – it looks beyond the present to visualise what could be and invests in that belief.
What excites me most about Together is what it asks of all of us. Movements begin with small steps and I am inspired daily by the dedication of our alumni community. Jasmine Rab faced many setbacks during her environmental science studies – but it didn’t deter her from finishing what she started. Now she is giving back to the same Deakin programs that supported her.
Simon Naawi grew up in the Torres Strait, determined to return as a nurse and provide the culturally appropriate healthcare that he himself was denied. In partnership with the Norman Beischer Medical Research Foundation, Deakin is supporting the next generation of Indigenous nurses like Simon to stay on Country for most of the academic year and attend intensive campus teaching and training blocks. Young people in his community are already asking how they might chart their own path to Deakin.
Our Deakin community sharing their stories, their time and their wisdom – that is the soul of this Campaign. When I look to the next 10, 20, 50 years, I see a Deakin whose impact is shaped by the choices we make right now. Together, each of us has an important role to play in building that future.
Professor Iain Martin
Vice-Chancellor
Read more stories from the 2025 Deakin Difference donor impact report