The Chief Technology Officer of Walmart, the Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and a Justice of the High Court of Hong Kong were among 11 Monash alumni celebrated in Monash University’s 2015 Distinguished Alumni Awards.

The annual awards, presented during the University’s October graduations, recognise the outstanding achievements and contribution of Monash graduates across all 11 faculties.

Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AO commended the award winners on their exceptional achievements.

“This year’s Distinguished Alumni highlight the depth and breadth of our alumni community,” Professor Gardner said.

“Our award recipients have made an exceptional contribution to their field. Their significant achievements, community leadership and career success provides inspiration to students and their peers and encourages others to strive for excellence.”

2015 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners

Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture - Ms Tania Aldous
Ms Tania Aldous is an industrial design professional with over 20 years’ experience working for Australian, North American, and global brands in the areas of brand design strategy, planning and implementation.  She is currently the Vice-President, Design for World Kitchen LLC, which includes worldwide brands such as Pyrex and Corningware. She previously worked for Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s number one appliance company as Design Director, North America.

Arts - Professor Ben Kiernan
Professor Ben Kiernan is the A. Whitney Griswold Professor of History and Professor of International and Area Studies at Yale University. Professor Kiernan was the founding Director of the Genocide Studies Program from 1994 to 2015. His work has been published in eleven languages and received many awards including the US German Studies Association’s 2009 Sybil Halpern Milton Memorial Book Prize for the best book dealing with the Holocaust.

Biomedical and Psychological Sciences - Professor John Mattick AO
Professor John Mattick AO is currently the Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. Prior to his appointment to the Garvan, he worked at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the CSIRO Division of Molecular Biology in Sydney and at the University of Queensland where he was Director of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience.

Business and Economics - Ms Rebecca Dee-Bradbury
Ms Rebecca Dee-Bradbury is a non-executive director at Grain Corp Ltd, BlueScope Steep Ltd and TOWER Ltd. She was formerly the Chief Executive Officer and President (Developed Markets) with Mondelez and prior to that, Chief Executive Director of Barbecues Galore.

Education - Mr Derek Scott
Mr Derek Scott has been the Principal of Haileybury for eight years. Mr Scott has overseen the growth of Haileybury’s involvement in China which includes the delivery of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) with seven partner schools in China and the opening of Haileybury Wuqing, a boarding school for Chinese students just out of Beijing.

Engineering - Ms Samantha Read
Ms Samantha Read is the Chief Executive Officer of the Plastics and Chemical Industries Association (PACIA).  Prior to this, she was Chief Executive Officer at the Biofuels Association of Australia and also held senior roles in the Australian automative and steel industries.

Information Technology - Ms Suja Chandrasekaran
Ms Suja Chandrasekaran is Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief Data Officer at Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer. Her career has spanned across multiple continents including Australia, North America/USA, Latin America and Europe, and has led some of the world’s greatest retail and consumer packaged goods organisations.

Law - The Honourable Mr Justice Kevin Zervos SC
The Honourable Mr Justice Kevin Zervos SC was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong in 2013. Prior to this he was the Director of Public Prosecutions in Hong Kong.  Before moving to Hong Konh, he was General Counsel to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in New South Wales.

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences - Associate Professor Andrew Block
Associate Professor Andrew Block is a clinician-leader with joint appointments in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University, and Monash Health. In 2006 he was appointed as Director of General Medicine at Dandenong Hospital, and in 2010, he began as Director of Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health at Dandenong Hospital.

Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - Mrs Suzanne Kirsa 
Mrs Suzanne Kirsa is the Director of Pharmacy for Monash Health.  Prior to this she was Director of Pharmacy at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She was National President of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia from 2010-2013.

Science - Mr Elliot Kotek
Mr Elliot Kotek is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of The Nation of Artists, the Chief Content Officer and Co-Founder of Not Impossible Labs, the Executive Director of the Not Impossible Foundation and the Editor-In-Chief and Founder of Beyond Cinema.
View full profiles and past recipients at the Distinguished Alumni Awards website.

View full profiles on our Distinguished Alumni Awards website.

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