Hawker scholars honour a 70-year memory

Scholarships

Two University of Adelaide students have been awarded the prestigious Charles Hawker Scholarships - the most generous privately funded scholarships available to university students in Australia.

The scholarships have been awarded to Bachelor of International Studies student Katherine Radoslovich and Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Development Studies student Eleni Watts.

Both are residents at St Mark's College, with funding from the scholarships paying for their accommodation costs. The scholarships are valued at up to $60,000 over four years.

The two students were among 10 new Charles Hawker Scholars from five States to be presented with their scholarship certificates at a series of functions in August, leading up to the 70th anniversary this month of the death of Charles Allan Seymour Hawker.

The scholarship perpetuates the memory and commemorates the achievements of Charles Hawker, who was one of Australia's most respected pastoral pioneers. He died in the Kyeema air disaster on 25 October 1938. Among the 17 others to perish when the Kyeema crashed into Mt Dandenong were South Australian wine identities Sidney Hill Smith, Hugo Gramp and Tom Hardy.

More than 100 people attended a 70th anniversary commemorative weekend, which included the scholarship presentation at Bungaree Station (near Clare), the birthplace and final resting place of C.A.S. Hawker. The event involved representatives of the Hawker, Hill Smith, Gramp and Hardy families, as well as the former Premier of South Australia and former Master of St Mark's College, the Hon. Dr John Bannon AO.

Since 1991, the Trustees of the Charles Hawker Scholarship have awarded more than $4 million to 76 young Australians, including a significant number from regional areas. Of these, 32 Hawker Scholarships have been awarded to students from the University of Adelaide and St Mark's College, three of whom have gone on to become Rhodes Scholars.

The 10 successful candidates for 2008 were awarded the scholarship from a strong field of 240 applicants.

"Each of these recipients has already displayed a strong commitment to the ideals upon which the Charles Hawker Scholarship Memorial Trust Fund is founded. They are gifted scholars with inquiring minds and have already contributed to the wider community," said former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Member for Wannon and Hawker family member, the Hon. David Hawker MP.

Mr Andrew Hawker, Scholarship Trustee and Hawker family member, said: "C.A.S. Hawker was a truly remarkable man and a great Australian. This scholarship is a fitting tribute to his memory and each of these 10 scholars is a very worthy recipient."

Applications for the 2009 Charles Hawker Scholarships open on 1 December 2008 and close on 9 January 2009. An application form and further information is available by contacting the secretary to the Trustees on (08) 8127 1654 or from the website: www.hawkerscholarship.org