Thank you

GRATEFUL FOR OUR COMMUNITY

As the world continues to navigate through this awful pandemic, I think we all feel grateful to be in this special place not least because of the extraordinary way the community responded to the challenges we all faced here.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced all of us to change the way we do even the most basic things. As a University, almost immediately we had our students migrating online to continue their learning, and staff working from their homes.

However, I think the best way to remember a year that confronted us is from a place of gratitude.

To have deeply committed friends who were willing to support our students overcome the pandemic’s many hardships spoke to the heart of what our University community is all about.

This support made a genuine difference to our students’ welfare, and in many cases was the difference in their ability to continue studying.

The University community’s support also had an enormous impact on our research efforts in what was an unparalleled year.

I want to sincerely thank you all for your commitment to our academic aspiration and excellence during this time. Your generosity is supporting an unprecedented number of students through scholarships, prizes, and fellowships.

And this support bore fruit. I am pleased to share with you that despite a year of physical and social restrictions which included a period of lockdown, our students were able to continue with their studies, and we maintained a high level of research output with some terrific results.

For ours is a community that responds in hard times. In 2020 we experienced an incredible growth in donor numbers. Our alumni, friends, and staff assisted more than 4,000 students facing financial adversity to survive one of the toughest years of their lives. Thank you. Your support for students in need contributed to one of the most vibrant philanthropic years in the University’s history.

Despite the tough year, there were some other remarkable highlights. Tasmanian philanthropist Dr David Warren set up a new honours scholarship to honour University of Tasmania Applied Mathematician and distinguished researcher Professor Larry Forbes, while the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre’s world-leading ISLAND Project helped us further understand who is at risk of dementia and how we can manage our chances of developing it.

And amidst a pandemic, a tiny school halfway between Hobart and Launceston won a national science competition thanks to their teacher – Tarnith Kelly – a past recipient of The George Alexander Foundation Relocation and Living Support Scholarship.

Thank you for making the University a priority. A complex and challenging year is behind us, and your goodwill has allowed us to begin 2021 in a different and far more positive place.

Professor Rufus Black Vice-Chancellor