Today marks 70 years since the UNE broke away from the University of Sydney and established itself as Australia’s first regional university.
To commemorate this occasion, over 250 staff made the most of the beautiful day and gathered on the lawns of Booloominbah for an informal celebratory morning tea .
Deputy Chancellor Jan McClelland and Vice-Chancellor Chris Moran opened the event reflecting on UNE’s origins, rich past and promising future emphasising that “we need to take pride in the university we will be, not just the university that was.”
Also in attendance was Professor Wal Whalley AM, who in addition to giving over 60 years of paid and voluntary service to UNE, remembered being a student in 1954. A successful and popular lecturer in plant ecology and agronomy, Wal still visits and work at UNE on an almost daily basis.