Brave, bold and brilliant
Awarded alumni

Professor Brenda Wilson AM, DipAppSc(Nurs) ’83

Awarded a Queen’s Birthday Honour in 2019, Professor Wilson is a member of the Flinders University Council and a Professorial Fellow in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She was appointed as the first female Lieutenant Governor of South Australia in 2014 and spent 13 years as CEO at Cancer Council SA.  Professor Wilson began her working life as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1973. Nearly ten years later she applied to study a Diploma of Applied Science (Nursing) at Flinders, when the Sturt campus first opened.

Marilyn Beaumont OAM, DipNgSt ‘87

Marilyn was awarded an Australia Day Order of Australia Medal in 2017 for service to the community, particularly to women’s health. She was Executive Director of Women’s Health Victoria between 1995 and 2010. Marilyn was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2007 in recognition for her work as a leader in women’s health, a volunteer and mentor of young women. She was Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation SA Branch from 1982 to 1987 and was Federal Secretary between 1987 and 1995.

Adjunct Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM, BNg ‘98

Elizabeth was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours in recognition of significant service to medical administration, particularly to nursing and midwifery, and to community and mental health organisations. Elizabeth has been CEO/Secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA Branch) since 2008. She has been Adjunct Associate Professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences since 2011.

Professor Charlotte de Crespigny AM, DipAppSc(Nurs) ’80, BNg(PostReg) ’90, DipPrimHlthCare ‘97

Professor De Crespigny was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2018 for her work bridging the divide between the medical profession and some of Australia’s most vulnerable, including her work with remote Aboriginal communities and with prisoners. She was Professor, Joint Chair, Alcohol and other Drug Nursing at Flinders University from 1996-2008 and then Professor of Drug and Alcohol Nursing at the University of Adelaide until 2015.

Elizabeth English AM,
DipAppSc (Community Health Nursing) ’82, BNg ‘91

Awarded in 2017 for service to nursing, particularly in the field of stomal therapy clinical practice and education, and through executive roles with national and international associations.

Kerryn Ernst PSM,
MPallCare ’08, MNg (Nurse Practitioner) ’10

Awarded in 2017 for outstanding public service to community health in the Australian Capital Territory.  She is a metastatic McGrath Breast Care Nurse employed by ACT Health.

Karen Glaetzer AM,
BNg(PostReg) ’93, GradCertHlth ’00, MNg (Nurse Practitioner) ‘03

Karen Glaetzer was recognised  in the 2018 Australia Day Honours for her significant service to nursing, particularly in the field of palliative care, to people living with Motor Neurone Disease, and to professional groups. She was involved in the establishment of the Daw House Hospice. She holds Academic Status in palliative care at Flinders University.

Jean Hancock OAM,
DipAppSc (Nurse Management) ’83, BNg ’88

Awarded in 2007 for service to the community through aged care, disability, emergency services and volunteer organisations.

Sheila Kavanagh AO,
BNg (PostReg) ‘93

Awarded in 2017 for distinguished service to nursing, particularly in the field of burns treatment, as a clinician, researcher and educator. She was Advanced Clinical Service Co-ordinator, Adult Burn Centre, Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Elizabeth Keam AM,
DipAppSc (Nurs) ’81, BAppSc(Ng) ‘86

Awarded in 2007 for service to community health in the field of palliative care through contributions to the development of programs and services to assist people with a terminal illness, and to nurse education.

Associate Professor
Lesley Long AM,
DipAppSc (Nurs) ’82, BAppSc(Ng) ’86, PhD(Ng/Midwif) ‘98

Awarded in 2010 for service to medical administration, particularly in the area of nursing, to education of nurses, and to clinical service planning. She was an academic at the University of Adelaide.

Margaret Maloney OAM,
DipAppSc (Nurs) ’87

Awarded in 2008 for service to international humanitarian aid through the provision of volunteer nursing services in developing countries. For more than 20 years she has been delivering life changing/saving surgery into East Timor and eastern Indonesia.

Judith Smith AM,
DipAppSc (Nursing Management) ’86, BNg ’88, MNg (Cwk) ’94, GradCertHlth ’01

Awarded in 2017 for her significant service to community health through pharmacy regulation and health practitioner roles to nursing, and to aged persons. She was Executive Director of Nursing and later Consumer Liaison Officer at RDNS SA.

Judith (Judy) Steel AO,
BNg ’89, DipAppSc (Nursing Management) ‘86

Judy received a Queen’s Birthday Honour in 2006 in recognition for her service to the international community through the provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Uganda as the founder of Uganda Australia Christian Outreach. Towards the end of her nursing career Judy went to Uganda and began to provide medical aid to some of Africa's most disadvantaged people. She published her Ugandan story in Mama Jude: An Australian Nurse's Extraordinary Other Life in Africa, with co-author Michael Sexton (HarperCollins Australia, 2011).

Dawn Thorp AO,
BNg(PostReg) ’93

Dawn Thorp was recognised in the 2019 Australia Day Honours for her distinguished service to nursing and medicine in the field of haematology. A hospital-trained nurse and midwife who later gained her formal qualifications at Flinders, Dawn co-founded the Australian Haemophilia Nurses Group in 1988. As a result of her knowledge and experience with transfusion services, she was asked to help establish South Australia’s BloodSafe program in 2001.

Barbara Wieland AO,
DipAppSc (Nurs) ’82, BNg (PostReg) ’90

Awarded in 2013 for distinguished service to public administration in the sector. She had a key role in establishing the first public mental health service Consumer Advisory Group. She also developed the only metropolitan Adelaide Aboriginal Mental Health liaison program with indigenous peer workers.