Reception for 2013 Scholarship Recipients - 29 August 2013

A congratulatory and farewell cocktail reception for the 2013 Cambridge Australia Scholarship recipients was held in conjunction with the Cambridge Australia Scholarships (CAS) Annual General Meeting at Ormond College. Seventy guests attended the event - Scholarship recipients and their proud family members, CAS board members, esteemed donors, the British Consul-General, the Master of Ormond College, Freshers, Cambridge Society members and friends. Seven CAS directors were re-elected to the Board: Dr Richard Dammery – Chair, Dr Dominic Katter, Mr Patrick Moore, Dr James Forrest, Mrs Taruna Heuzenroeder, Professor Nicolas Peterson and Dr Paul Schreier. Cambridge Australia Scholarships, formerly known as the Cambridge Australia Trust, provides scholarships for outstanding Australian graduates to undertake Masters and PhD studies at the University of Cambridge, England. In 2013, a total of nineteen awards were made : 8 PhD scholarships - Miss Claire Agius, Mr William Bateman, Mr Nathaniel Davis, Mr Paolo De Sciscio, Ms Lily Dixon, Ms Julie Ji, Ms Georgina Statham, Ms Juliette Tobias-Webb. 4 Masters half scholarships – Mr Seamus Barker, Mr Joshua Crowther, Mr Tudor Thomas, Ms Myfanwy Wood 3 Honorary awards – Mr Olaf Ciolek, Ms Ellese Cotterill, Ms Jolan Price 3 Charlie Perkins scholarships (in collaboration with the Charlie Perkins Trust) - Mr Vincent Backhaus, Ms Sarah Rees, Ms Leila Smith 1 Roberta Sykes scholarship (in collaboration with the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation) – Ms Bridget Hughes Ten scholarship recipients attended the reception on 29 August 2013. Pictured from left Jolan Price, Joshua Crowther, Seamus Barker, Myfanwy Wood, Sarah Rees, British Consul-General Mr Gareth Hoar, Master of Ormond College Dr Rufus Black, re-elected Chair of CAS Dr Richard Dammery, Nathaniel Davis, Julie Ji, Juliette Tobias-Webb, William Bateman and Claire Agius A copy of the Cambridge Australia Scholarships Annual Report 2012-13 can be downloaded from the CAS website www.cambridgeaustralia.org.au

Winter Feast, 7th August 2013

The CamSoc NSW Winter Feast 2013 was held at The Royal Sydney Golf Club, Rose Bay. The guest speaker was Ian Narev who commenced as Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia on 1 December 2011. He studied International Corporate Law at Cambridge University, where he was the course dux. Mr Narev spoke on the role of education in preparing for business careers - education being at the home, formal education and on-the-job learning. As well as being most informative, the talk was funny and thought-provoking with plenty of questions afterwards.

AGM & Thinking at Twilight, May 2013

Cambridge alumni enjoyed Drinks & Canapes with fellow alumni & heard Bill Potter, discuss "The Needham Question: Why was Newton an Englishman and not Chinese".

From Simon Winchester's book Bomb, Book and Compass the following question arises from Joseph Needham's work: given that China was more than three hundred years ahead of the West in the development of technology, why did the scientific revolution not take place in China rather than the west? Put more succinctly, why was Newton an Englishman and not Chinese? This has become known as The Needham Question. Bill Potter explained his theories and his handout enlighted us as to the extent of Chinese invention - air-con fan, callipers, crop rotation, folding chairs & toilet paper to name a few!

Tuesday 26th February 2013, Thinking at Twilight

Alumni gathered at the Union, Universities & Schools Club to hear Michael O'Sullivan, the Director of the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trust talk about "The Next 25 Years for the Cambridge Brand". He highlighted the forces of the brand spectrum: tradition vs innovation, English vs International, undergraduate vs gradate and how all aspects are vital. Richard Dammery who heads up Cambridge Australia Scholarships & Justine Koster, CAS Administrator were also present.

Annual Christmas Drinks

This was kindly hosted by our Vice President, Christopher Dawson and extremely well attended! Committee Member Rhys Goodey spoke on 'My Idol: Dr Samuel Johnson' which provoked great discussion among the attendees.