The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Barber and the Chancellor, Mr Stephen Gerlach hosted a reception for Flinders alumni in Canberra at the Australian War Memorial recently.

Flinders graduate, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson (BMBS ’83, GCertPubSecMgt ‘03, DUniv ’11) newly appointed Director of the Australian War Memorial, addressed the large group of alumni, speaking on the highly topical subject of “Australia and its place in the region.”

The Vice Chancellor and the Chancellor presented the 2012 Convocation Medal to Professor Stephen Buckman (BSc Hons 1st Class ’75, PhD ’79), who is Research Director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre for Antimatter-Matter studies at the Australian National University.

Stephen Buckman is the leading Australian scientist in the field of Antimatter – Matter interactions and has an outstanding international reputation in the general Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics communities. He was awarded the Convocation Medal for outstanding and sustained leadership and contributions locally, nationally and internationally in the field of Antimatter – Matter interactions.

The reception received very positive feedback with alumni expressing thanks for the opportunity to reconnect with their fellow alumni in particular. Some exciting follow-up activities and opportunities have been identified with planning underway already.