Bond University's The ARCH - winter 2015

WINTER | 2015
AlanBond1 9 3 8 - 2 0 1 5
V A L E

ALUMNI from across the world celebrated
their alma mater at a jam-packed
Homecoming Weekend in May.
Now an annual feature on Bond’s calendar,
the four days of events provided ample
professional and social settings to reunite
Bondies.
The University’s early alumni, who
graduated more than two decades ago,
were shocked to find out they completed
their degrees before some of their new
friends were born.
Bound by a youthful exuberance,
regardless of age, this seems to be the
secret to Bond graduates making an impact
on the world in fresh and creative ways.
Three alumni notably doing that are the
recipients of the 2015 Alumni Awards,
which was celebrated at the very beginning
of Homecoming Weekend.
Professor Tim Brailsford says Bond
University graduates, especially those at the
top of their game, think about the world
in ‘profound and different ways’, which
parallels the University’s vision.
“Bond is different from the rest,” says
Professor Brailsford.
“Our past hasn’t always been smooth
sailing, but that often happens when you
strive to be the first, which we have always
done.
“We produce graduates who are leaders
and thinkers, imbued with initiative and the
spirit of free enterprise.
“We were created in a landscape of a
largely publicly-funded, centralist-driven
education system. We are an outlier but we
believe the future is ours.”
This ‘future is ours’ mentality was especially
clear at the Alumni Leaders Forum, which
followed on from Alumni Awards as the
perfect accompaniment.
Following the formation of an Alumni
Advisory Board last year, an official board
of alumni guiding the alumni strategy, an
opportunity to recruit more passionate
alumni leaders was apparent and so the
Alumni Leaders Forum was born.
The inaugural Alumni Leaders Forum
couldn’t have been held at a better time,
that being Foundation Day, or Bond’s
birthday.
With an alumni base of over 22,000
across more than 120 countries, and
growing every year, now is a better time
than ever in Bond’s 26th year to ensure
the University’s interests are best aligned
with the interests of both past and current
students.
The Alumni Leaders Forum is the ideal
platform for this alignment. It took place
as a half-day strategic workshop where
alumni from all over the world and
University leaders sat together for the
first time in Bond’s history to discuss how
to move the institution from excellent to
outstanding.
Bond University alumnus and Melbourne
Chapter Committee President, Jerome
Rault, who attended the Alumni Leaders
Forum, stressed the importance of
Foundation Day and bringing alumni back
to Bond.
“Foundation Day is relevant to all Bondies
as every year the University gets older,
it grows and becomes more prestigious.
Foundation Day serves as a reference point
for how far we have come.“ says Rault.
It wouldn’t be a Bond University
Foundation Day without personal
development and celebration interwoven,
however, and the Alumni Professional
Development Workshop and Bond Friends
and Family Festival proved successes for
this reason.
Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
Dr Baden U’Ren provided ample food for
thought in his complimentary afternoon
workshop on leadership, entrepreneurship
and innovation in the workplace, which
was specifically designed for alumni and
students.
That night then went off with a bang, with
fireworks lighting up the sky and the lake,
while friends and family of Bond gathered
under a marquee on the Ornamental
Lawns.
It was a hard act to follow, but day three
of Homecoming rolled around and once
again delivered with Rugby Game Day and
the Back 2 Bond Party.
Bond met the University of Queensland
in a grudge match on the Rugby Field
ahead of the Back 2 Bond Alumni Reunion
Party which was akin to a special edition
Palaver.
Homecoming wrapped up the following
day with the Live at Bond music concert,
now a much-loved regular on Bond’s social
calendar dedicated to unearthing local
talent.
Recent graduate Zoe O’Sullivan supported
Gold Coast band Neem making for a
relaxing Sunday afternoon at the ADCO
Amphitheatre, the final act to what was a
spectacular Homecoming Weekend.
“We produce
graduates who are
leaders and thinkers,
imbued with initiative
and the spirit of free
enterprise."
4 www.arch.bond.edu.au
W I N T E R 2 0 1 5

ALUMNI Awards, held in the Princeton
Room, set the pace for Homecoming
Weekend and the standard for another
year of high-achieving at Bond and beyond.
Bond University Vice-Chancellor Professor
Tim Brailsford and Executive Director of
Alumni and Development Brett Walker led
the celebration and recognition of dynamic
and diverse alumni - some at the height of
their careers, others just starting out. The
audience included members of the Gold
Coast City Council and Bond University
Council, and distinguished guests of the
University, including Emeritus Professor
Robert Stable.
Bachelor of Laws and Information
Technology alumna Fiona de Jong, who is
currently CEO of the Australian Olympic
Committee, was awarded the Robert Stable
Alumni Medal. The Alumni Award for
Exceptional Community Achievement went
to Bachelor of Commerce alumnus and
CEO and President of Ferrari Australasia
Herbert Appleroth, while recent Bachelor
and Master of Laws graduate Matthew
McLean took out the Alumni Student
Award.
AlumniAWARDS
HOMECOMING
5www.arch.bond.edu.au

AS CEO of the Australian Olympic
Committee, Fiona de Jong is far more
accustomed giving lustrous accolades in
her line of work than receiving them.
In the context of her career, and given her
early ambitions to compete for Australia at
an elite sporting level, de Jong’s response
to taking out Bond University’s most
prestigious alumni award, the Robert
Stable Medal, is understandable.
She says it’s an honour akin to winning
gold at the Olympics.
De Jong, who grew up in Brisbane with a
love of swimming in creeks and riding BMX
bikes, is the first woman to have received
the award which recognises the highest
achievements by Bond alumni.
She first arrived at Bond in Semester 923
to pursue her passion for a unique kind of
Law at the time, Information Technology, a
progressive choice considering the internet
was still in its infancy. It was soon after
that de Jong found new inspiration that
eventually became a lifelong love affair
with triathlon.
She says Bond afforded her an opportunity
to focus equally on her vastly different
passions of law and sport through an
understanding that this would provide
the most solid foundations for a life of
leadership.
Following a strict daily regimen of “six
hours learning, six hours studying, six hours
training and six hours sleeping” during
her time at Bond, de Jong is proof that
diligence delivers results.
“Bond let me pursue a dream that very
few individuals have the opportunity to do,
and if I studied at any other institution, I
genuinely believe I wouldn’t have achieved
them,” says de Jong.
“Where other people zig, Bond encourages
its community to zag, and that’s what
we need to create really strong and bold
leaders going forward.
“It took a high degree of support and
flexibility from teachers and friends,
embedded into a strict regime, to achieve
my goals of graduating Law with Honours
and representing Australia in triathlon.
“Despite coming out of my final Law exam
and vowing to never study again, with
the passage of time and experience in the
workforce I have come to value education
and what it enables you to do.”
Enabled and empowered, de Jong is now
focused on passing the baton to other
young people, and particularly hopes to
be a role model for young athletes by
demonstrating there are strong career
opportunities after sport.
“One of the challenges we have in
Australia with our athletes is they may not
believe they can have a duality of careers,”
says de Jong.
"Having walked that path, I know that it
is tough, but more athletes need to know
you can do both, and keeping a healthy
body means you have a healthy mind.
"I would strategically choose my subjects
around triathlon, so in winter when there
were no races I would take the harder
subjects and in summer the easier ones.
However, I quickly realised that when I was
in heavy training, I actually studied better.”
De Jong’s classmates, some of whom
converged on campus for Homecoming
Week in May, reflected on her time as a
Bond student and as a career professional
– describing her both then and now as
ambitious with a preference for life as a
balancing act.
Alessandro, her infant son, is the latest
addition to this act, with de Jong citing
his existence as ‘unequivocally the most
extraordinary accomplishment I have
achieved’ and not at all stopping her in her
tracks.
“Much was said at the time I was
appointed to my role about being the first
female CEO in our 120-year history,” says
de Jong.
“There is nothing special about me. I am
the product of a generation that has had
every opportunity my brother did. I simply
walked through the doors of opportunity
when they opened.
“I haven’t experienced being a woman as
particularly significant or insignificant in my
career, which in itself is an accomplishment
for women.”
In true athletic form, de Jong believes
time management is often the basis for
success, and ‘there is no better place than
university’ to learn such a skill.
“If I could envision a roadmap by which
young future leaders could live a rich and
rewarding career, it would be one that
marries a very good education with a few
really wise choices in life,” she says.
"Blessed with so many opportunities in a
country like ours, it's a question of which
ones you really want to take. There are
no shortcuts in achieving - it takes true
discipline and hard work.
"I'm also a big believer in pursuing what
you love and not letting anyone contain
your dream. If at first you don’t find your
career passion, don’t settle or let people
pigeon-hole you. Continue to discover until
you find that really unique combination
that sets you apart.”
GREATER THAN
WINT ER 2015

HOMECOMING
"Blessed with so many opportunities in a
country like ours, it's a question of which
ones you really want to take. There are
no shortcuts in achieving - it takes true
discipline and hardwork."

Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford with Herbert Appleroth
WINT ER 2015

AS THE CEO and President of Ferrari Asia-
Pacific, Herbert Appleroth is accustomed to
living life in the fast lane.
He quickly climbed the corporate ladder
after graduating with a Bond University
Bachelor of Commerce Degree in 1995,
becoming General Manager of Ferrari and
Maserati Australia at the age of 26 and
later moving to Italy to take on the role of
Global Marketing Director of the company.
Appleroth’s corporate resume is long and
enviable, but his community involvement
sets him apart even more to earn him the
2015 Bond University Alumni Award for
Exceptional Community Achievement.
When devastation struck Japan in 2011,
Appleroth moved faster than ever.
Living in Tokyo at the time, Appleroth
visited the town of Ishinomaki with
the Italian Ambassador to Japan in the
immediate aftermath of the magnitude 9.0
earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
Ishinomaki was one of the most devastated
areas, with the natural disaster reportedly
levelling 80 per cent of its houses and
around 50 per cent of the town.
Many schools were completely destroyed,
such as Ishinomaki Okawa Elementary
School which lost more than 65 per cent of
its students and staff.
“Ishinomaki had the greatest casualty
rate of any city in the disaster zone,” says
Appleroth.
“The scene was absolutely horrific.”
With the backing of Ferrari, Appleroth met
with the Governor of Miyagi Prefecture
and the Mayor of Ishinomaki to discuss
ways to assist.
“I thought we needed to do more than
the common practice of simply donating
money to charity, knowing that often
donations are lost in administration,” says
Appleroth.
“I wanted to invest directly in the city, and
my other requirement was for our support
to benefit children, so together we devised
a plan and agreed to directly fund the
building of a new school in Ishinomaki.
“It was the first time in the city’s history
and among the first in all of Japan that a
foreign company invested directly in a local
school project.”
Appleroth’s efforts raised more than $1
million, surpassing his goal for Ishinomaki
to be able to build not only one school, but
two. The schools were officially opened in
December 2012.
Appleroth says his passion has always been
helping children, and that his wife would
often describe him as a big kid himself.
He says he realised this passion even before
he realised his dream of working for Ferrari
at the age of 13.
“From a very young age I considered
myself a lucky egg, and have been
fortunate to be blessed with a great family
and education and work for an amazing
company,” says Appleroth.
“The first time I went into a cancer ward
and saw the kids and the look in their eyes,
it was a defining moment for me. I just
knew I had to dedicate a sum of my career
to helping them.
“I was always aware it was my role to
equalise the ledger and balance out my
luck of birth with paying back to those less
fortunate.”
Prior to Appleroth’s work in Ishinomaki,
he took a two-year sabbatical from his
corporate responsibilities in 2008 and
became a board member of the Oncology
Children’s Foundation, now the Kids
Cancer Project.
He funded clinical trials for a new anti-
cytoskeletal drug focused on brain
tumours, oversaw the development
of an international Research Advisory
Committee and created the first Australian
co-ordinated group of research units, C4,
which was sponsored by the NSW Ministry
of Health to allow funding for the sharing
of cancer research.
This provided a strong learning curve for
Appleroth, who was able to consolidate a
life-long passion and corporate experience.
Already equipped to deal with both long
and short-term orientated cultures, from
years working in Italy and Asia, Appleroth
applied this knowledge to his role.
“We restructured the management and
board team to create efficiencies and
strong compliance so as to build the
public’s trust in the organisation,” says
Appleroth.
“My experience running a charity opened
my eyes to how other charities are run
from an administration viewpoint and, like
in the corporate world, there are always
better ways to get the biggest bang for
buck and help those in need more quickly.
“Everyone has good intentions in charity
board work, but often these good
intentions can actually hinder the charity
progress.
“The biggest lesson I have learnt is that,
unlike a corporate structure, everyone on
a charity board is equal, but there isn’t
always a natural organisational structure.
“This tends to mean more time is required
for discussion and contemplation, rather
than doing. Patience is absolutely vital.”
Appleroth says with the work ethic and
time-management skills that come with a
good education, there is no reason most of
us can’t lend a hand to important causes.
“At Bond you learn the art of performance
and working hard, and it’s in those first
few years out that you can make the
biggest difference in your career.
“There are people who essentially can’t
give, and still do, so my challenge to
young people on the way up is they are in
privileged positions to make a difference
and should do so.
“Roll up your sleeves, work from the front
and show true leadership – don’t point
fingers, instead show others how it can be
done.
“The most valuable thing you can give
to causes is not money, but time, which
is really the most valuable thing you can
provide to anything you want to achieve
in life.”
CULTURE OF GIVING BACK
HOMECOMING

MATTHEW McLean’s can-do attitude is
palpable.
The 23-year-old winner of the 2015 Bond
University Alumni Student Award was once
the driving force of the Bond student body,
he was a founding leader of the Bond in
Africa project and recipient of the Long
Tan Leadership and Teamwork Award.
McLean describes the first Bond graduates
as ‘pathfinders’ who took a risk on the
then fledgling University, but the recent
Bachelor and Master of Laws graduate is
no less a pathfinder than those who have
gone before him.
He had his first break as a 17-year-old fresh
out of school, helping in the electorate
office for a Member of Parliament in
Newcastle. He already had an Australian
Defence Force Long Tan Leadership and
Teamwork Award and school captaincy
behind him.
These experiences revealed a passion
for policy and leadership, before he was
fortuitously guided to Bond.
“Truth be told, I had no intention of
coming to Bond, but when I entered under
the arch for the first time and walked the
thinking stairs, it was pretty hard to say
no,” says McLean.
“There was also a crystallising moment
when Mr Alan Finch, the Pro Vice-
Chancellor for Students and Academic
Support, who I consider the de facto
father of our student body, spoke at our
scholarship commencement dinner.
“He concluded his speech by saying, ‘I
trust you have enjoyed your brief stay
at Bond and I hope you would consider
making it a longer one’ – and had me
absolutely sold.”
McLean accepted a Bond University Vice-
Chancellor’s Elite Scholarship in 2010,
recognised for what was already a wealth
of leadership, academic, community and
extra-curricular achievements.
Nevertheless, he was quick to set an even
higher standard for himself and others.
He soon assumed positions of Chair and
Councillor of the Education and Academic
Affairs Council, Vice-President (Education)
of the Bond University Student Association,
which later evolved into a Presidency, and
balanced this with media and electorate
roles for the Queensland Government
Whip and State Member for Albert.
From 2012, McLean also held research
positions within the Bond University Office
for Quality, Teaching and Learning and the
Centre for Law, Governance and Public
Policy.
This work both afforded McLean a Bond
University Contribution to Teaching and
Learning Award and informed his career
direction.
“Through my legal research role, I came
in contact with the National Disability
Insurance Scheme which was then being
developed by the Department of Families,
Housing, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs.
“It was my first experience with social
policy on a government level and I knew
full well after that I wanted to take a role
in Canberra and work in the area of public
policy.”
DRIVE FOR
SUCCESS
Matthew McLean
WINT ER 2015

ENTREPRENEURSHIP and leadership were the hot topics
up for discussion at Bond University Assistant Professor of
Entrepreneurship Dr Baden U’Ren’s Alumni Professional
Development Workshop. Assistant Professor U’Ren
workshopped the topics with students and alumni at the
complimentary professional development session, and also
explored how to drive creativity and innovation in their
workplace.
Alumni professional
development workshop
ALUMNI leaders converged
on campus as part of
the 2015 Homecoming
celebrations.
The inaugural Alumni Leaders
Forum brought together
leaders from the Alumni
Advisory Board, Alumni
Committees and Bond
University Limited.
Alumni members were
invited back to learn about
the strategic direction of
the University and the
Alumni and Development
Office, particularly how the
two could work together
to engage and reconnect
with the alumni community
through programs in the
coming year.
Members of the groups
graduated from Bond at
various points in time, making
this gathering an invaluable
first opportunity for diverse
leaders to meet in person.
McLean, who achieved the highest
academic honours for both his degrees and
made Valedictorian for the graduating class
of February 2014, recounts many highlights
of his university experience, which he
regards as a ‘gift that keeps on giving’.
A hallmark was being a founding leader of
the philanthropic Bond in Africa project,
but he says he can’t discount the day-to-
day highlights.
“You can better see the forest from the
trees with time and distance, and with
that said, my affinity with Bond is only
continuing to grow,” says McLean.
“Studying Law was the greatest entrée to
the legal world, learning from some of the
brightest minds in the country who were
leading some of the brightest up-and-
coming lawyers.
“Although I don’t practice law on a day-
to-day basis, the analytical framework I
learnt during my studies informs the work I
do and advice I deliver to government in a
policy sense.
“The social side at Bond was also
unparalleled, and I felt like I met a new
friendship group every day. I think
community is the greatest strength of
the University as it’s not so small to lack
diversity but not so large to lose intimacy.
“My experience was unreal and
unparalleled in so many ways, but the
most unique thing about it is that it’s not
uncommon.”
With youth and talent on his side, McLean
still feels he has much to achieve, adding
that ‘ambition is a disease in any man’.
However, he can quickly pinpoint a career
highlight already, within his current
position with the strategy division of the
Department of Social Services.
“The highlight of my career so far is
working on the McClure Review of
Australia’s social security system,” says
McLean.
“As a recent graduate, I was fortunate
enough to take a role on the taskforce
supporting that review, and am using the
analytical framework I learnt throughout
my education to assist in redesigning
Australia’s welfare system and redevelop
our payments architecture.”
McLean says his greatest advice to other
alumni is work hard to be an ambassador
of the University.
“Bond’s success is determined by the
breadth, depth and ultimate value of its
alumni base,” he says.
“To maintain the currency of degrees and
premium of the product, as alumni we
must redouble our efforts, reach high and
lead from the front.”
Alumnileaders forum
HOMECOMING
L-R Front: Nicole Kelly (041), Henry Norris (081),
Peta Fielding (892), Derek Cronin (892), Jacqui Ward (092)
L-R Back: Rohan Titus (913), Alex Sceales (952), James Browning (062),
Michael O’Meara (071), Jerome Rault (102), Julius Brookman (951)

BOND’S UNFAIR
FRIENDS, Romans, Countrymen – lend me
your ears. The Unfair Advantage is a small
bowl of rich and flavoursome homemade
soup.
This may be a Toga speech attention-
getter that would hopefully go down
well under the Arch and in the books of
Assistant Professor Mike Grenby from Bond
University's Faculty of Society and Design.
Grenby’s Public Speaking 101 course may
now go by a different name and take a
new shape, condensed from a semester-
long subject into a four-week workshop,
but the same hallmarks remain.
Grenby says The Unfair Advantage
workshop, officially launched in Semester
151, incorporates 'all of the best bits' of
Public Speaking’s 16-year tenure as it falls
into the newly created Beyond Bond core
curriculum.
“Condensing the subject into a workshop
has been like making a really good
soup,” says Grenby, who has received an
Australian Learning and Teaching Council
Citation for Outstanding Contribution to
Student Learning.
“The original ingredients are the same,
but because they have been infusing in the
bowl for longer, there is less water when
we take them out but a more concentrated
flavour.
“The workshop features all of the old
subject’s highlights, like the icebreaking
bashing of the barstool, the Goody Box
Impromptu speech – and, of course, the
iconic Toga speech under the Arch.”
Grenby says it has been a team effort
leveraging The Unfair Advantage to where
it is today, but campaigning by staff,
students and alumni has cemented the
course in its most advantageous position
yet.
On top of the original favourites, in which
5000 students to date have participated,
there are added features such as
elevator pitches and an introduction to
PechaKucha, a slide presentation format
that forces speakers to get to the point.
“It’s a win-win all around, especially for the
students,” says Grenby.
“One of the reasons The Unfair Advantage
has been so well received is because it’s
offered free and isn’t marked, so students
can focus entirely on the learning process,
earn 10 Beyond Bond credit points while
they are at it, and be up for recognition at
the end of the semester if they are one of
the most improved students.”
Grenby says the secret is in the structure of
the course, which has evolved continuously
since Professor Jeffrey Brand of the Faculty
of Society and Design conducted original
research for a Bond University public
speaking subject in 1999.
Grenby introduced Public Speaking 101
into the curriculum soon after. It grew into
a labour of love for him and, most recently,
fellow teachers Caroline Graham and Krista
Mathis (who even wrote a scholarly paper
on Communities of Memory: Reflections on
toga speeches as collective storymaking),
Taryn Mathis, Jan Evans, Pete Meggitt -
plus Shilo Brosnan and Jane Buckley, who
now have taken key roles in administering
and teaching The Unfair Advantage.
Public Speaking 101 was originally a core
subject of the Faculty of Humanities and
ADVANTAGE
W I N T E R 2 0 1 5

CAMPUS
Social Sciences which last year became
the Faculty of Society and Design.
Faculty Executive Dean Raoul Mortley AO
supported moving the subject to Beyond
Bond, which Executive Director of Alumni
and Development, Brett Walker facilitated.
Grenby says the new workshop delivers
the same outcomes that saw the old
subject recognised by the Harvard Business
Review, the University of Cambridge and
the London School of Economics over the
years, and to that it aligns perfectly with
the Beyond Bond mission.
THE UNIVERSITY’S commitment
to delivering prepared graduates
is being backed by a new program
that helps students realise their
career ambitions.
Industry leaders are again lining up
to take a group of Bond students
under their wings in a blossoming
program designed to help them
chart a roadmap to career success.
The Vice-Chancellor Scholars
Mentorship Program provides
a Vice-Chancellor Scholarship
recipient with a rare insight into
their chosen field, as well as one-
on-one career advice directly from
'the boss’.
The initiative is now in its second
year and has been supported by
leading executives across a range of
industry sectors.
Bond University Vice-Chancellor
and President Professor Tim
Brailsford says the mentors are at
the forefront of their professions,
including tourism, media, finance,
health and law.
“The guidance and opportunities
afforded by this scheme will be
invaluable for the students and
is part of Bond’s promise on
delivering practical, job-ready skills
and networking opportunities,”
Professor Brailsford says.
“Each of the mentors involve their
mentee in a variety of aspects of
their business, and for them to take
the time in their busy schedules
to offer this experience to our
students speaks volumes about the
commitment and generosity of the
mentors.”
Finance student Isabelle Silberling
will gain insight into working for a
large-scale organisation after being
paired with Craig Davidson, the
CEO of Dreamworld, Whitewater
World and SkyPoint.
“Mr Davidson has already given
some great advice about being
open to opportunities because you
never know where they will take
you; where you end up working
may not be what you had originally
envisaged,” Silberling says.
“He is going to be a great mentor
and is a really nice guy who will
steer me in the right direction.”
Davidson says he has found the
program to be mutually beneficial,
and looks forward to mentoring
Silberling during the next 12
months.
“Gaining experience in the real
world and understanding the real
issues businesses face when you
hit the ground as a graduate will
immediately give you a step up on
the path to success,” he says.
“It is critical to reinvest our time
and I see it as time well invested.”
Southern Cross Austereo General
Manager Nick Scott was also eager
to share his expertise in the media
industry with Journalism student
Luke Ireland.
“It’s so important for students to
keep it real, that’s why I think this is
such a worthwhile program,” Scott
says.
“From my experience, you don't
always end up in the field you
expect. I studied psychology and
geology, and ended up in a career
in media, so for students to have
the opportunity to link their studies
to the real world is invaluable.”
Ireland has been given the
opportunity to experience all facets
of radio production, including
news, sales, engineering, research
and accounting.
In addition to being exposed to
corporate networks, he says Scott
has given advice about useful
subject electives for the future.
“Not many people get the
opportunity to see the inside of
how a company like SCA works in
their first year of university, as well
as have guidance from one of the
top bosses in the business who also
happens to be a top bloke,” Ireland
says.
“Ideally, I would love to have Nick’s
job one day, so there’s no one in
the industry better suited to help
me get there.”
Other mentors involved in the
program include Pindara Private
Hospital CEO Trish Hogan,
Technigro founder Nick Bloor,
Morgans Financial Client Advisor
Lynda Woods and Designer Keri
Craig-Lee.
INSPIRING THE NEXT
GENERATION OF LEADERS
Career Development Centre's Kirsty
Mitchell felt “Beyond Bond was the natural
place to move the course when the core
curriculum was reorganised as there is no
doubt The Unfair Advantage enhances
employability,” says Grenby.
“Employers have always told us students
need to have three things: reasoning,
writing and public speaking skills.
“From childhood until the day you die, you
are giving talks to anywhere between two
and 2000 people, and if you can’t speak
competently and confidently, then you will
never get anywhere.”

AS BOND University Film and Television
Awards (BUFTA) rolls into its 20th year,
Director of Film and Television Associate
Professor Dr Michael Sergi says the team is
preparing ‘something special’ to mark the
anniversary.
However, true to his filmmaking roots,
Sergi wants to maintain the element of
surprise until the awards ceremony in
November. If the growth of the awards are
any indication, the local and international
film and television industry is in for a treat.
“A few years ago we started broadcasting
live over the internet because of strong
demand and now we have people
watching from all over the world,” says
Sergi.
“It’s a glossy event – a television and
high-quality awards ceremony - and
there is nothing like this offered by any
other university in Australia, perhaps even
around the world.
“The number of high school students
entering best demonstrates the appeal.
Five years ago we had around 70 entries
and now we get well over 200.”
In 2008, the awards grew out of a lecture
theatre and moved into a transformed
Princeton Room.
Over the past two years they have been
emceed by Academy Award winner Adam
Elliot.
“Adam committed to BUFTA as his only
professional speaking engagement for the
entire year last year while he was
in the middle of making another film,
which I think is testament to the value
these awards bring to the industry,” says
Sergi.
“BUFTA has a huge impact on the lives
of students whose films go through to
the final rounds and really kickstarts their
careers at such a young age.
Move over
Oscars, Bond’s
answer to the
movie industry’s
peak awards
is preparing
for its biggest
performance yet.
FOR A RICH FILM HISTORY
Milestone
WINT ER 2015

FEATURE
“Likewise, it has a tremendous impact
on Film and Television students who
help pull the show together. It’s a
serious undertaking and extraordinary
to go from never having done television
beforehand to putting on a massive
broadcast event like BUFTA 10 weeks
later.”
Sergi has been coordinating BUFTA for
the past 14 years. In recent years, he
has been increasingly ushering BUFTA’s
digital evolution and steering Australia-
wide roadshows to spread the good
word.
“BUFTA was relatively modest for its
first decade and mostly seen as a way of
encouraging production at a time when
there was very little of that in Australia,”
he says.
“Now that production is heating up
locally and BUFTA has cemented its
place on the circuit, we are being invited
to speak at schools all around Australia -
this year already in Melbourne, Adelaide
and Perth – about how to make strong
BUFTA films.”
BUFTA also has been inspired by
talented alumni, with winners in recent
years going on to work on major
blockbusters and win big at industry
favourites such as Cannes Lions Festival.
London-based Eric So, the 2006 BUFTA
Overall Winner, has an impressive
resume even by Hollywood standards.
As a stereo compositor, his work only
four years post-graduation has included
Captain America, Mission Impossible:
Ghost Protocol, Happy Feet Two,
Prometheus and The Great Gatsby.
Another BUFTA Overall Winner,
Matthew Thorne, has seen his short
films, music videos and television
commercials win awards around the
world.
Thorne won the Young Director Award
at Cannes Lions Festival last year for his
short film Where Do Lilacs Come From,
the pinnacle after scoring wins at other
events including St Kilda Film Festival
and 30 Under 30 Film Festival in the US.
BUFTA winners seem to find a way of
connecting with some of the biggest
companies in the world, as 2007
BUFTA Overall Winner and Melbourne
videographer James Base has done
with Red Bull. Base is also the official
videographer for The Cat Empire,
and currently making the band's
documentary.
Dr Michael Sergi says BUFTA is a year-
long project, where the awards wrap up
late November for the core team of six
to get a break over Christmas and then
begin all over again in January.
In the months leading up to the awards
night, Sergi’s team recruits contractors and
additional staff, as well as a large cohort
of Bond University Film and Television
students to help deliver a blockbuster
production.
“The challenge is putting on a major
and broadcasted film and television
awards event from within a university, as
universities traditionally aren’t geared up to
do something like this,” says Sergi.
“It would cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars to put on an event of this calibre in
the ‘real world’.
“We are a very high-achieving group of
people though, working and learning at
an equally high-achieving institution. The
awards unfold each year as a total labour
of love for all of us involved and it just
wouldn’t work otherwise.”
Guest presenter Adam Elliot
2014 BUFTA Overall Winner Thomas Evans

DESPITE riding the highs and lows of the
shipping industry for four decades, and a
textured career as a salesman, translator
and broadcaster preluding this, Alan
Chan’s experiences haven’t moulded him
into your typical high-flying businessman.
In his demeanour, the Singapore-based
Chan espouses modesty and eschews
showiness, elaborate displays of wealth
and personal standing.
Chinese by birth, British by immigration,
Japanese through military conquest,
Malaysian by merger and Singaporean by
independence, Chan takes a globalised
view of the world.
He believes that each corner can derive
some benefit from another, and likewise,
good business will benefit all parties
involved.
It’s a Confucian approach to life,
something that Chan is trying to impress
upon the youth of today.
“In 1988, there was a meeting of Nobel
laureates in Rome and they said if human
beings were to survive in the 21st century,
they have to go back 25 centuries and
consider the wisdom of Confucius,” says
Chan.
“This couldn’t be truer and, in my opinion,
Confucianism is a treasure to all of
humanity.”
Chan formally applied himself to
Confucianism later in life, as he did with
business too.
He took his time to rise to the top in
business, striking out in his own at the age
of 38 and founding a small tanker shipping
company from scratch.
This mirrors his belief in waiting for things
to take their course, contrasting the
Western philosophy that you can fast-track
a solution.
It took more than a decade for Chan to
establish his shipping company, Petroships,
and another decade for it to grow. Chan
sold it at the height of the market in 2007.
“Selling my business at the height of the
market after four decades was full of
heartache, although I wanted to avoid being
punished by the market, and could see the
pressures were looming large,” Chan says.
The following year, the market crashed and
still it hasn’t recovered fully.
“A broad perspective is very important in a
world of international complexity and high
technology, otherwise you don’t see things
as they are,” says Chan.
“I always tell students the most
important thing in business is foresight –
visualising things in the future and acting
accordingly.”
His Eastern upbringing had more of an
impact on Chan than he once thought,
and it was only when looking back that
Chan realised he had been navigating
the cutthroat shipping industry through
Confucian conduct.
Chan says he has always charted the
waters with a broad perspective, tolerance
and patience in check, and by assessing all
matters with great depth.
“Entrepreneurship and business is often
taught as being quite merciless and
predatory. Sometimes these techniques
seem useful, but I think entrepreneurship
thrives under more moderate conditions of
harmony, credibility, trustworthiness and
cooperation.
“As the saying goes, virtue is not alone and
is bound to attract companionship.”
Chan says his approach to business goes
hand in hand with the core Confucian
teachings of humaneness, righteousness,
good conduct, wisdom and credibility,
which he always subconsciously followed
and which the Chinese community
practices in varying degrees.
“My order of understanding Confucianism
wasn’t by prior study, but by later
realisation and by reviewing my own style
of always living life in a decent manner,”
he says.
WHERE EAST MEETS WEST
WINT ER 2015

Now Confucianism is Chan’s lifeblood and,
in his opinion, one of the most effective
methods of spreading the message is
working with universities such as Bond.
“Education is the most effective and
productive investment to me because the
returns have a true ripple effect,” says
Chan.
“Universities are the place to spread ideas.
You promote the ability and quality of the
people through education, which I should
know because I have proceeded from Third
World to First World in the short space of a
few decades due to my education.”
Chan is currently encouraging the growth
of the Bond University Centre for East-
West Cultural and Economic Studies
through his philanthropic support, while
expanding its focus on Confucian studies.
Chan’s passion for East-West relations
was cultivated in his early career, when he
worked in Singapore as a translator and
bilingual broadcaster.
His curiosity for words these days, in
his semi-retirement, is being applied to
translating and distilling the core teachings
of Confucius into a small booklet where
his approach is ‘to be comprehensible, not
comprehensive’.
“My number one goal is to spread the
Confucian doctrines to Western and
Oriental people, which is quite a mission,”
says Chan.
“It hasn’t been done successfully in the
past because people try and put across the
whole thing, but I only want to showcase
teachings that are relevant to the modern
world.”
Chan visits Bond at least
once a year to lend his
support to East-West
studies, recently
coming for the
Confucianism and
Modern Society
International
Symposium, and
also occasionally
teaching a
personal case
study on piracy
to postgraduate
International Trade
students.
Bond University Faculty
of Society and Design Dean
and Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Raoul
Mortley says Chan’s support adds to
the strength of Bond’s reputation and
consolidates its position in Eastern studies.
“Alan’s support and confidence in Bond
adds depth to the University being Asia-
facing,” says Mortley.
“He has a specific profile in Singapore,
Malaysia, China, and also with UNESCO,
so it means a lot for the University that he
is very willing to show his association,” he
says.
Chan believes consciousness is being
elevated globally to better welcome
Confucianism and, where it isn’t,
the ethics and values of the
philosophy are much
warranted.
As China roars into
global leadership, Chan
believes it’s increasingly
important to understand
the societal values and
culture of the Chinese
to maintain healthy
economic and trade
relationships. His view is
that Confucianism is a useful
supplement to business markets
across the world.
“Confucian culture has an enormous
contribution to make to modern China
and the West,” says Chan. “It adds
an intellectual depth to the way we
understand cultures and power, which is
absolutely necessary in today’s world.”
FEATURE
"Education is the most effective
and productive investment to
me because the returns have a
true ripple effect.”

PAVING PATHWAYS TO THE ARTS
WHEN Patrick met Sally it was immediately
a marriage of two very different worlds,
although both were united by the same
passion.
The friendship between Bond University
donor and art patron Dr Patrick Corrigan
AM and Indigenous Australian artist Sally
Gabori was instantly dynamic, much like
Gabori’s works depicting her rich heritage
and history.
Through Corrigan and his wife Barbara’s
generosity, Bond is the beneficiary of many
of these pieces, which will co-exist with
what is already Australia’s largest private
collection of Aboriginal art on public
display.
Corrigan has donated the lion’s share of
this collection. As Bond University Vice-
Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford says,
“Whenever we have blank walls, Pat seems
to step in and want to fill them.”
Fittingly, and speaking to the University’s
global vision, the book Gabori: The Sally
Gabori Collection of Patrick Corrigan was
recently launched at Bond in the Abedian
School of Architecture.
Professor Brailsford sums up the concept of
displaying Gabori’s collection in a building
that was designed in the UK, engineered
in Germany and built by local company
ADCO Constructions as a ‘masterstroke’.
Authored by Djon Mundine and published
by Corrigan, who also owns boutique
Newtown bookstore Better Read Than
Dead, Gabori’s 192-page book features a
broad selection of her works, all painted
within a period of five years.
The editor, Candida Baker, says the book
speaks volumes about the Australian
experience, and serves as a memento to be
passed down for generations to come.
“It is said by Djon in the book that ‘great
art speaks not only of its creation, but also
to the timeless heart of human nature’ and
I don’t think this could be more true of
Sally’s work,” says Baker.
“Sally captures the beauty of Australia’s
landscape as she teaches us about her
husband’s country, family’s country and her
country.
“She lived through so much – full
separation from her homeland, the passing
of several children, and the death of her
beloved husband – yet when she put paint
on canvas, it was as if only the purest light
of her memories remained.
“We are all aware of the ongoing
difficulties faced by indigenous
communities in Australia, including the loss
PAST AND PRESENT
A tale of elders
of land and languages, and we are seeing
a disconnect between younger indigenous
Australians that sees them isolated from
their beautiful culture.
“Art is one way to bridge that gap and
become a catalyst for change in these
communities.”
Baker says Corrigan’s ‘memory prowess
and strict attention to detail’ meant not
one thing went amiss in the book and the
design values were held in the highest
regard to complement the content.
“Pat has single-handedly done more for
arts philanthropy in Australia than any
country would have a reasonable right to
expect,” she says.
To that, humbly Corrigan deflects the glory
and says the real treasure was Gabori’s
skill.
“It’s unbelievable that she picked up a
brush for the first time at 83 years of
age and could paint with such a visceral,
heartfelt energy for five years, and then
one day just stop,” says Corrigan.
“Somehow, in her late age, Sally suddenly
understood how to translate into art the
difficult emotional and physical spaces
that she had travelled through during her
lifetime.”
BOND is the presenting partner
of The Arts Centre Gold Coast’s
Indigenous program throughout
2015 and 2016, and extending to
mid-2017.
Through a synergy with Dr Patrick
Corrigan AM, The Arts Centre
Gold Coast’s Gallery Chairman
and Bond University Indigenous
Gala Patron, the local institutions
are working together on raising
awareness of Australia’s most
significant art movement of the
21st century.
Bond University Pro Vice-
Chancellor Pathways and
Partnerships Catherine O’Sullivan,
says the partnership profiles the
shared objective for the future of
both Bond and The Arts Centre.
“The alignment cements our
commitment to nurturing
Indigenous culture and being a
thought leader in this space,” says
O’Sullivan.
“The Arts Centre’s Indigenous
program showcases talented
performers and presents relevant
discussions and issues that share
the importance and value of the
culture, something we are very
proud to champion.”
O’Sullivan says the partnership
also has a tangible effect on
students.
“Students are encouraged to
engage through work experience
and internship placements at The
Arts Centre,” she says.
“The value the Gold Coast
is placing on growing and
diversifying the arts and cultural
sector, through initiatives like the
Bleach* Festival that Bond is also
involved in, facilitates us finding
pathways and employment
outcomes for our students.”
WINT ER 2015

1 2
3
4
5
1. Dr Patrick Corrigan AM with Gabori: The Sally
Gabori Collection of Patrick Corrigan
2. Book launch gathering held in the Abedian
School of Architecture
3. Sally Gabori artwork decorates the walls of
the Abedian School of Architecture
4. Professor Tim Brailsford with Executive
Director Alumni and Development Brett Walker
5. L to R: Mark Ella AM, Dr Manny Pohl, Candida
Baker, Gail Pohl, Dr Patrick Corrigan AM

THE corporate world might not yet have
captured the essence of gender equality,
but Bond is doing its best to change the
leadership model
from the ground
up.
Bond hosted
the Alliance of
Girls’ Schools
Australasia
Leadership
Conference
earlier this year
for the second
year in a row,
emblematic of
its commitment
to female
empowerment.
The conference
brought together
school captains and
leaders from more than
140 schools across Australia,
New Zealand, Hong Kong,
Philippines and the US, with the vision
these young women will be the leaders of
tomorrow.
Robyn Moore, a communications specialist,
spoke on the power of language to change
the world, while Bond alumna, Secretary
General of the Australian Olympic
Committee and former international
triathlete and lawyer Fiona de Jong,
highlighted that a diligent approach to life
will reap dividends.
A thread of compassion was woven
throughout the conference, most
prominent when Thankyou Group Co-
founder and Managing Director Daniel
Flynn and Same Sky founder Francine
LeFrak spoke on the rewards of putting
others first through social enterprise.
With both having strong ties to the
developing world, the speakers embodied
Bond’s Pathways and Partnerships mission
of reaching out to important causes on a
global scale.
Flynn has funded safe water, health,
hygiene and food solutions for hundreds of
thousands of people, while LeFrak is giving
artisans a ‘hand up, not a handout’.
Bond University Pro Vice-Chancellor
Pathways and Partnerships Catherine
O’Sullivan says the speakers were most
Empowering for
EXCELLENCE
The path to success
may be fraught with
gender bias, but
inspirational tales
of compassion and
triumph at Bond
highlight the power
within to change the
world
WINT ER 2015

COMMUNITY
inspiring in the areas of leadership,
entrepreneurship and corporate
governance.
“To have such speakers at Bond, sharing
their experiences with students who
have displayed exemplary leadership
qualities, will no doubt empower the next
generation of female achievers to follow
their dreams and have a positive impact,”
says O’Sullivan.
The conference marked the first time
LeFrak had visited Bond, strengthening the
University’s partnership as Same Sky’s first
institutional partner, which was announced
on International Women’s Day last year.
Bond is now working with leading young
women in its community to spread the
‘hand up’ philosophy. This includes former
Bond University Student Association (BUSA)
President Melanie Hayden, who undertook
the first Same Sky university internship
at its headquarters in New York late last
year.
“Same Sky shows that anything is possible
when you capture the hearts and minds
of people, which is what we are trying to
encourage at Bond,” says O’Sullivan.
“We are delighted to join Francine and
the global community of Same Sky
ambassadors, celebrities and supporters in
championing a needful and much stronger
global conversation about Rwanda, the
empowerment of women, the importance
of giving, sustainable enterprise and the
issues of poverty, conflict, health and
education.”
LeFrak, a multiple Tony, Emmy and
Peabody award-winning producer of
social issue films, fortuitously fell into
venture philanthropy. After spending eight-
and-a-half years developing a film script on
the Rwandan genocide of 1994, she hit
a roadblock when Hotel Rwanda was
released and Hollywood wasn’t interested
in producing another film on the subject.
“When you truly believe in something, no
matter what obstacle is in your way, you
feel like you just have to go forward,” says
LeFrak.
“I was in so deep at that point that there
was no turning back.”
At the deep end were 250,000 Rwandan
women left desolate and hopeless after
being raped during the genocide, with
70 per cent of these women estimated by
the United Nations to have contracted
HIV.
“These women were so poor that
they couldn’t even eat consistently, let
alone take the medicine that was being
provided,” says LeFrak. “They were just
preparing for their death.”
LeFrak felt compelled to take her passion
one step further.
“Countries that receive aid are statistically
worse off, so I got this idea to give the
women that had been left behind a job – a
hand-up, not a handout,” says LeFrak.
“Friends always said I had a good eye for
jewellery, so I came up with this idea to
employ women to crochet jewellery.”
Since 2008, Same Sky jewellery has
been acting as a ribbon to the cause of
eradicating extreme poverty by promoting
a marketplace for the ethical shopping
movement.
Artisans in Rwanda and the US, where
45 million live below the poverty line,
create jewellery for remuneration of the
selling price. This can pay for one year’s
healthcare, school fees or access to clean
water.
“By creating jobs you give dignity and
hope, grant opportunity across multiple
dimensions in life, and help unveil talents
as you promote an avenue for self-
expression,” says LeFrak.
LeFrak notes that one of the Rwandan
artisans who was gang raped in the
genocide and couldn’t speak when they
met now leads other women.
Another’s HIV numbers have changed so
dramatically since she started working that in
the past year she gave birth to a HIV-free baby.
LeFrak says Same Sky’s message is
transferrable to women working in any
field, in any part of the world.
“I believe so much in the power of
women working in collectives, whether
that’s the artisans in Rwanda, women in
halfway houses in America, or girls coming
together for greater causes at schools and
universities.
“Working in collectives gives women the
most incredible ability to empower one
another.”
Same Sky
Artisan
crocheting
at Avega
Same Sky
Artisan and
jewellery

INTERNATIONAL Relations and
Communications alumna Ashleigh Peplow
Ball is a big believer in focusing on the little
wins in life.
When the challenges she faces working
in international aid seem too big to
overcome, she tries to smother the thought
and turn her attention to the difference
something small can make.
“When you are out there helping a
developing community, it can become
overwhelming and you start thinking of the
other millions of people that don’t have
access to healthcare,” says Peplow Ball.
“That thinking doesn’t help anything
though, so you need to remember that big
changes are always made up of lots and
lots of little actions.
“Forty years ago diseases like polio were
crippling developing nations and now
babies can be vaccinated with a single
drop. These things make you think where
we will be in another 40 years considering
the speed of change these days.”
Peplow Ball learnt to live by that sentiment
and with that hope while working in
Uganda last year for American-based
NGO Mama Hope. She was the first
Australian to be awarded Mama Hope’s
Global Advocate Fellowship, a leadership
program for international development
workers.
During her three-month Ugandan tenure
post-graduation last year, Peplow Ball
served as the Project Manager of the Suubi
Health Centre in Budundo, Uganda.
THE REWARDING
ROADThe Centre is intended to be self-sustaining
over time from income generated through
the local community centre, construction
of which also wrapped up during Peplow
Ball’s trip.
In addition to overseeing the construction
of the centre, a large portion of Peplow
Ball’s work was relationship-based, centred
on inspiring positive dialogue around
healthcare in a traditionally resistant
community.
Peplow Ball says the experience
reaffirmed her passion for women’s
empowerment, peacekeeping and
sustainable development, as well as the
importance of targeted and transparent
fundraising activities. She raised $30,000
for her Ugandan project before leaving
Australia, and discovered her network was
WINT ER 2015

the direct impact their donations can have
instead.”
Twenty-five babies were born at Suubi
while Peplow Ball lived in Budundo, with
a number of these born from complicated
labours that may have been unlikely
without the Centre.
“I would have very difficult days where I
was in and out of meetings with politicians
and trying to access anti-retroviral drugs
for HIV-positive women, then I would
return to town for the Suubi staff to run
out and tell me a baby had been born and
it was like all my worries disappeared for a
moment,” says Peplow Ball.
Peplow Ball says she still feels as though
she has one foot in the community
and another in her current location of
Melbourne, where she recently
began working for
Engineers Without
Borders.
She says it’s an
exciting time
for social
enterprise
in Australia
though,
as a shift
is taking
place
from pure
fundraising
towards
developing
innovative
and sustainable
businesses around
issues instead.
“I’m a month into my job at
Engineers Without Borders, working in
humanitarian engineering for Indigenous
and Torres Strait Islander communities
here and in South East Asia, bridging gaps
when it comes to things like water, shelter,
hygiene and energy, which is very much
in line with my interests and what I was
doing in Uganda,” says Peplow Ball.
“While it sometimes feels unsustainable,
I’m thankful to be passionate about a really
long list of things, and still speak to my
local Ugandan family and project partners
every week to find out how I can keep
helping.
“I achieved more than I thought I would
over there in terms of scope, but these
aren’t projects you can just step away from
easily.”
increasingly willing to donate when they
saw their funds translate into meaning.
“The Suubi staff had flagged with me
that women having complications during
labour might not be able to walk to the
Health Centre, and putting them on the
back of a normal motorbike could lead to a
miscarriage,” says Peplow Ball.
“We found a company in Uganda that
made motorbike ambulance pods and
people back home couldn’t jump on the
cause fast enough. It took only three days
to raise $3000 on a crowdfunding platform
for a motorbike ambulance which is now a
key component of the community.
Experiences like this definitely gave me a
fresh outlook on fundraising. It's not about
begging for money, but showing people
...big changes are
always made up
of lots and lots of
little actions.
Suubi's new motorbike ambulance

Bond University's The ARCH - winter 2015

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