Monash Alumni Family Tree

Our Alumni community

Our Monash Family Tree series highlights the life-changing and life-long impact of a Monash education.

But particularly, how special it is to be able to share that experience with members of your own family.

Monash’s enduring impact can be felt through generations of families who have become alumni — something the Rogerson family knows very well!

The Rogerson family

Grace and Kelly Rogerson.

My Monash journey began in 1995, when I became the first in my family to attend university. Choosing to study nursing was both a calling and a leap of faith, I had undertaken a hospital training as an enrolled nurse and enrolled as a mature age student, filled with curiosity and the desire to make a difference. Monash provided not only the education, but the inspiration and confidence to build a career that has taken me far beyond what I imagined possible.

After completing my Bachelor of Nursing, I returned to Monash to undertake a Graduate Diploma (Intensive Care) and then a Masters. These studies, combined with a later MBA, strengthened both my clinical expertise and leadership capability and opened doors. They became the foundation of a career that led me to senior leadership roles and ultimately to my position as Chief Executive Officer of a specialist palliative care service. The opportunities and insights I gained through Monash have allowed me to travel the world, influence policy and practice, and support others to grow in their own professional journeys.

Now, the story has come full circle. My daughter Grace , has followed in my footsteps,  commencing her Bachelor of Nursing at Monash University. She is currently completing her first clinical placement at Casey Hospital, (Monash Health) the very same hospital I helped open as Nurse Unit Manager of Ward A when she was just four months old, a place she visited as she grew up.

Watching Grace begin her own career at Monash is deeply moving. I see in her the same curiosity and kindness that first drew me to nursing, but also a new generation’s perspective on what health care can be. The bond we share through our Monash experience feels like a full-circle moment: two women, two generations, connected by education, purpose, and a shared belief in the power of care.

Monash shaped who I am, not just as a nurse or a leader, but as a lifelong learner. Seeing Grace begin her own Monash story reminds me how truly life-shaping a Monash education can be. It’s not just a degree; it’s a legacy.

Today, Grace is not only following in the footsteps of her mum Kelly by studying nursing, she’s doing so in the very same hospital that Kelly helped to open over 20 years ago.

Kelly was the first in her family to attend university — a leap of faith that wasn’t so much a choice as it was a calling.

“I was filled with curiosity and the desire to make a difference,” she says, “Monash provided not only the education, but the inspiration and confidence to build a career that has taken me far beyond what I imagined possible… Monash shaped who I am.”

Now, seeing Grace work her first placement is a truly moving experience for Kelly: “I see in her the same curiosity and kindness that first drew me to nursing, but also a new generation’s perspective on what health care can be.

The bond we share through our Monash experience feels like a full-circle moment: two women, two generations, connected by education, purpose, and a shared belief in the power of care.”