A parting gift of a garden bench bodes well for a restful retirement for Professor Eileen Willis.

After 30 years in MNHS, Eileen was farewelled at an afternoon tea that also paid tribute to outgoing Executive Dean of eight years, Professor Michael Kidd, who is becoming Professor of Global Primary Care at the Southgate Institute.

Living up to her name (Eileen means “light” in Gaelic) Professor Willis made the following reflection upon her time at Flinders:

“What I have admired about Flinders is the many very talented individuals who teach, research and lead/manage and administer, and in doing so are able to mentor, encourage, share and collaborate with colleagues.

“I’m a great believer that if you want to make a better world it is best done in a group, rather than by yourself. Flinders provides the structural framework for this to occur across a number of domains.

“The challenge in retirement is to find other structures in order to be collaborators in creation (Teilhard de Chardin).”