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Honorary doctorate for Ms Susan Alberti AM

24 May 2006

A businesswoman who has fought to find a cure for the disease that prematurely claimed her daughter's life -- juvenile diabetes -- has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from Monash.

Deputy Chancellor Dr June Hearn (left) last week presented Ms Susan Alberti AM with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

The Managing Director of DANSU Group, Ms Susan Alberti AM, expressed profound gratitude when she accepted the degree from Monash Deputy Chancellor Dr June Hearn at a graduation ceremony last week.

"Remember -- life is measured not by the amount of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away," Alberti said. "Receiving this award today did just that, and it gives me confidence to head towards the future."

Ms Alberti said her campaign to raise funds for research into juvenile diabetes began when her daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 12.

"Her life was prematurely ended -- by juvenile diabetes and its aftermath -- at only 32 years of age as a result of a massive heart attack. She would have turned 37 in November this year. This has only increased my resolve to further the effort I had been making towards juvenile diabetes," she said.

Ms Alberti is National President of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Australia, which has contributed $52.6 million to diabetes research and related initiatives in Australia since 1992.

She also chairs the St Vincent's Institute for Medical Research Foundation.

In 1992, Ms Alberti helped set up the annual Walk For A Cure fundraiser in Melbourne and Sydney. It is now held in every Australian state and has raised more than $20 million. Last year's event attracted about 80,000 participants.

In 1997, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia and was a finalist in the Victorian of the Year Award.

She is a patron and member of the Board of Directors of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, where she co-founded a group, the Bulldog Belles, to help women with their sport and business endeavours.

The honorary doctorate was presented to Ms Alberti on 18 May, at a graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Victorian College of Pharmacy.