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Vice-Chancellor gains international award
University of the Sunshine Coast’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Thomas AM has achieved an Australian university first by receiving a prestigious international award for excellence in leadership.
Professor Thomas travelled to Malaysia last week to receive the Asia-Pacific Chief Executive Leadership Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
CASE is a non-profit association of educational institutions with offices in Washington DC, London and Singapore.
Professor Thomas is the first vice-chancellor of any Australian university to be recognised in this way by CASE, which annually presents leadership awards in eight districts throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.
CASE President John Lippincott hosted the presentation ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on 25 March. He praised Professor Thomas for his pioneering leadership and for developing a culture of philanthropy through exemplary regional engagement.
“Professor Thomas is described by his peers as a passionate visionary, a leader of the highest integrity and a skilled pioneer in regional higher education,” Mr Lippincott said.
“He is well known for his tireless devotion and genuine interest in the people within the USC community. His 16-year tenure at USC demonstrates that great leadership is performed on a human scale.”
“Under Professor Thomas’s leadership and through his commitment to advancement initiatives, USC has achieved an enviable culture of philanthropy on campus and within its region.
Professor Thomas said he felt honoured and was grateful for such high recognition of his work at USC.
“To be nominated for and to receive the CASE award was a wonderful surprise,” he said. “For it to be judged by my educational peers adds to the significance of the award for me individually and for the University.”
Professor Thomas was nominated by three of USC’s strongest supporters: Sir Clem Renouf, Tim Fairfax AM, and USC graduate and Coastline BMW general manager Tristan Kurz.
— Terry Walsh