Professor Tim Flannery video

Description:
A title: Professor Tim Flannery, Distinguished Alumni Award 2008 recipient

Voiceover: "Tim Flannery graduated from Monash University in 1981 with a Master of Science.

"An acclaimed writer, scientist and explorer, Professor Flannery was Australian of the Year 2007 and Humanist of the Year 2005.

"He has a distinguished record in the fields of zoology and palaeontology.

"Professor Flannery influences public opinion about history, the environment and climate change, through his lectures, TV series and books… [pause]… most notably the international bestseller ‘The Weather Makers’.

"Monash University pays tribute to Professor Flannery for his exceptional and inspirational contributions to scientific research, Australia’s culture and our environment."

Professor Flannery: "All my strongest memories are really of the sort of people I met when I came into the geology department of Monash University.

"Before that, I'd done a humanities degree and I was desperate to study science. And there I was, this humble student amongst all of these great people - names that I'd heard about, of course, and read about but never met. And I just found it so generous and so accepting of me as one of the team.

"The impact that Monash had on me was a very, very deep one because I've remained very, very close to my professor, Pat Rich, who brought me into the Monash system. And people I met at Monash who were visiting from New York or from London have remained, again, colleagues over the years. So it embedded me in a body of scientific peers, I suppose - that experience, which has just been invaluable through my life.

"There is no doubt Monash has an international reputation so when I travel, people are aware of the University as one of the great Australian universities and, indeed, one of the world's great universities.

"And I owe that University, Monash, a very great deal. And I feel deeply honoured to be remembered as one of its alumni. So, to me, it's a very deeply moving and a personal honour - something I will treasure greatly."

Description: Professor Tim Flannery, MSc 1981, 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award, Monash University logo.

Video ends.