Adelaidean - News from the University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide Australia
November 2009 Issue
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Jubilee graduates relive golden years

 Alumni

Shared memories and laughter were the order of the day as more than 100 University of Adelaide alumni returned to their alma mater last month to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their 1959 graduation.

Known as the Golden Jubilee reunion, the commemoration ceremony held in Bonython Hall attracted alumni from as far away as the US and Kenya, and from across Australia.

Professor Deane Terrell, who graduated with an Honours degree in Economics and was also the university's Rhodes Scholar in 1959, gave the Golden Jubilee address. After graduating, Professor Terrell went on to have a distinguished academic career, including being Vice-Chancellor at the Australian National University in Canberra.

"Today is a wonderful opportunity... to meet with fellow graduates of 1959 and to recall the academic, social and sporting adventures and interactions that were such a rewarding part of those times," Professor Terrell said in his address.

Vice-Chancellor Professor James McWha commended the Golden Jubilee graduates for the distinction and service they had brought to the University and the community over the last 50 years.

"This event also reaffirms that the reputations of universities are largely built on the quality of the graduates they produce - not only at the time of their graduation, but what they go on to achieve, and how they use their education to better the lives of others," Professor McWha said.

The Golden Jubilee ceremony is held annually and gives University of Adelaide graduates the opportunity to reconnect with friends and places from their time at the University 50 years ago.

Story by Ben Osborne

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1959 Golden Jubilee participants outside Bonython Hall, where they first graduated 50 years ago
Photo by John Hemmings

1959 Golden Jubilee participants outside Bonython Hall, where they first graduated 50 years ago
Photo by John Hemmings

Full Image (59.66K)

Golden Jubilee participant Professor John Mainstone and his great-nephew, 11-year-old Stephen Dowding of Adelaide.  Professor Mainstone, who graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1959 with a PhD in Physics, has been custodian of the University of Queensland’s famous pitch drop experiment, the world’s longest running laboratory experiment, since 1961.
Photo by John Hemmings

Golden Jubilee participant Professor John Mainstone and his great-nephew, 11-year-old Stephen Dowding of Adelaide. Professor Mainstone, who graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1959 with a PhD in Physics, has been custodian of the University of Queensland's famous pitch drop experiment, the world's longest running laboratory experiment, since 1961.
Photo by John Hemmings

Full Image (56.34K)

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