Legacy of opportunity

Report and photography: Tim Grainger

For Patricia Mackenzie, Monash University's sprawling Gippsland campus in the small town of Churchill, 160 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, is known as much for opportunity as it is for its vast open spaces.

The wife of the late Professor Brian Mackenzie, who led the campus as Pro Vice-Chancellor between 2000 and 2007, Patricia has had a unique perspective on those
opportunities, and the benefits they have given to students, staff and the wider Gippsland region.

Speaking at the launch of the Brian Mackenzie Memorial Fund, Patricia highlighted her late husband's passion for the Gippsland campus and the potential he saw in it.

"I think what Brian valued most in his time with Monash was the opportunity that the Gippsland campus offered – not only to the University, but to the entire region, and the industries, communities and individuals within it.

"From the day he commenced as Pro Vice-Chancellor, Brian was always thinking about how he could extend and expand those opportunities to as many people as possible, regardless of their background or circumstance."

An advocate for social equity, Professor Mackenzie played a founding role in the development of the Gippsland Education Precinct (GEP). The precinct is an innovative model for improving aspiration and educational participation. The GEP brings together secondary school, vocational learning and higher education in a single location. Patricia is particularly proud of this initiative.

"Brian's efforts in establishing the GEP reflect his long-held belief that the opportunities provided through education should be accessible to anyone with the desire to make a difference in their lives.

"In many ways, Brian's work pre-empted the trends we are now seeing in education policy – for example, the need for whole-of-community approaches to address low aspiration and get more people finishing secondary school, and progressing to studying at TAFE or university," said Patricia.

Similarly, Professor Mackenzie understood the specific needs of communities in regional areas, and the opportunities provided to them by a regional university campus. This saw the development of research and teaching programs in areas of particular importance to Gippsland such as health, education, science and engineering.

"Brian was driven by the energy and enthusiasm of younger, early-career researchers, and used this to build a researchculture at the campus that was just as relevant to those within Monash as it was to the broader community."

It's a culture built on opportunity, and one that Patricia hopes will continue well into the future through the Brian Mackenzie Memorial Fund.

Framed by Professor Mackenzie's passion for education, research and regional opportunity, the fund will support a range of initiatives at the Gippsland campus, including student equity scholarships and new programs to help strengthen connections between the campus and communities in the region. Patricia has made a generous donation to establish the fund.

Donate to the Brian Mackenzie Memorial Fund.

This story was featured in our 2011 edition of Thanks! newsletter. Read the digital edition of Thanks!