Giving for the future

May 2006

Donations to Monash come in all shapes and sizes, from multimillion dollar commitments to annual student prizes of a few hundred dollars. All of them, however, reflect a commitment and connection to Monash and a willingness to invest in the future of tertiary education in Australia. Here we profile three of Monash's invaluable donors.

Report: Kate Chong
Photography: Greg Ford and Melissa Di Ciero

Pratt Foundation

Giving for change: The Pratt Foundation's Mr Sam Lipski.

The Pratt Foundation was established by Mr Richard Pratt and his wife, Jeanne, in 1978 as a charitable trust. While its philanthropic efforts are focused on mental health and social welfare, the foundation continues to be a major supporter of Monash.

Its association with the university began in 1996 when it funded a series of scholarships in the Faculty of Engineering to the value of $25,000.

This continued for eight years as the foundation's partnership with the university strengthened. Currently the foundation has committed, and is in the course of completing, pledges to Monash to the value of $4.5 million. That figure includes $1 million for the Monash University Arts Centres and donations to the Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation and the Monash Institute of Medical Research.

One of the foundation's biggest mental health projects is at the Department of Psychiatry where it is coming to the end of funding a five-year, $1.8 million research project dealing with the treatment of psychosis in adolescents through psychotherapy.

It is hoped the project will fill a gap in the community's approach to mental health. Pratt Foundation Chief Executive Mr Sam Lipski says this is an example of why the Pratt family donate.

"They give in order to change things for the better and in order to help people. They are always looking for the cause that will yield the maximum return in the way it benefits those who need the support," Mr Lipski says.

The Pratt Foundation also generously supports the Darsheini Community Learning Program at Monash's Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation. The program involves lecturers and scholars from the centre teaching courses at locations across Melbourne.

Mr Lipski says the foundation's decision to support the program was easy. "There are plenty of universities around the world that have departments or centres for Jewish studies, but there are none that we know of that have such an innovative program, one that takes what they are doing out into the general community."

The Pratt Foundation believes it is important to support higher education. "We see partnerships with universities both in a developmental sense -- we think they are vital to the development of the economy -- and in a knowledge sense because any society needs knowledge and development if it is to be fully rounded and civilised. We do value our relationship with Monash and see it as ongoing and continuing," Mr Lipski says.

Vice-President of Advancement at Monash University Mr Ron Fairchild hopes many other people and organisations start to feel the same way. "Donations are really critical to the university being able to provide the level of education and research that it needs to remain competitive," he says.

"Fundraising in the past was something that a lot of universities viewed as a luxury -- now it's absolutely essential to the future. Everyone has different priorities, and gifts at various levels are all appreciated."

Wilson Transformer Company

Through the generations: Mr Robert Wilson in front of a portrait of his father.

For Mr Robert Wilson (BE(w/hons) 1971), giving to Monash is a family tradition.

His father, Jack, established the Wilson Transformer Company in 1933 and was also a close friend of Monash University's first Vice-Chancellor, Sir Louis Matheson.

After the business moved in 1969 from Port Melbourne to Glen Waverley, a strong link with Monash developed. "Establishing a university in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne was quite revolutionary and we had a business out here, so it was very logical that we form an association," says Mr Wilson, who is Managing Director of the company.

Mr Jack Wilson was involved in creating the Department of Electrical Engineering at Monash and donated equipment to the department's laboratories.

In 1969, he established the Wilson Transformer Company Prize to recognise the top final-year student in electrical and computer systems engineering, and the Jack Wilson Prize for the top third-year student in electrical and computer systems engineering.

The prizes continue to be awarded annually and, in the past 36 years, prize money has totalled $41,000. After Mr Jack Wilson's death in 1972, a high voltage laboratory was established in the department and named in his honour.

Under Mr Robert Wilson's leadership, the Wilson Transformer Company has grown to become a major player in the Australian power industry and an important partner of Monash University .

Last year, the company contributed $300,000 towards a joint venture with Monash to support a five-year research project at the university's Centre for Power Transformer Monitoring, Diagnostics and Life Management.

As many power transformers in Australia are ageing and replacement costs increase, the centre, headed by Senior Research Fellow Dr Valery Davydov, is looking at ways of prolonging their life.

Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering Professor David Morgan believes it would be difficult to undertake such research without the support of Mr Wilson and his company.

"Wilson's is an employer of graduates and an adviser to the university about the industry," Professor Morgan says. "We have to provide people with meaningful research opportunities to attract them, to have them teach and undertake courses, and Robert is helping us to do that."

Mr Wilson is equally happy about contributing. "Supporting the university and research is addressing an industry need, and the research being undertaken at the centre is globally leading work in the power industry," he says. "It's really exciting and is taking our relationship with Monash to a new level."

Kathleen Gawler

Passionate about books: Ms Kathleen Gawler's donations support the library.

Ms Kathleen Gawler was working as a teacher librarian with the technical school division of the Victorian Education Department in the 1970s when she was required to gain a qualification in order to keep her job.

Living in Mount Waverley with her husband and three children, she chose to undertake a Bachelor of Arts at Monash part-time. As a mature-age student juggling study with work and family life, Kathleen remembers her time at Monash as frantic but fun.

"I was there in the days of Albert Langer and the protests, and I really enjoyed that," she recalls. She graduated in 1978 at the age of 55 and continued working for another four years.

Ms Gawler's love of books and libraries has seen her donate to the Library Fund through the Monash University Annual Appeal every year since 1985, with her donations totalling almost $1300.

She believes it is important to keep supporting the library. "Books are so expensive, and I hope my money is spent on purchasing them because they cannot be completely replaced by computerised information," she says. "The book must keep existing and being available in libraries."

For more information on giving to Monash, go to the Giving website.