Thursday 9 November 2006
The Hon. Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, Zemedhun Engida, Kate Ashton
Nine outstanding UQ MBA graduates were recognized at a ceremony at UQ Business School's Downtown venue last week.
Guest speaker Lord Mayor Campbell Newman - also a UQ MBA graduate - reminded the audience of the importance of giving something back to the community.
Head of UQ Business School Professor Tim Brailsford said the Lord Mayor's message was particularly appropriate as a new award for service to the community was introduced this year.
He said, "We felt it was important to acknowledge that leadership is about more than simply academic success."
Won by Ethiopian political refugee Zemedhun Engida (of Annerley), the service to the community award recognizes his commitment to supporting immigrants. Engida is currently President of the Australian Ethiopian Community Association (Queensland).
Excellent results for his MBA papers on the United Nations and the Red Cross demonstrate Engida's commitment to community development.
The award was presented by Kate Ashton, General Manager Queensland for The Smith Family.
The Director's Award for Leadership was presented by Steve Wilson of Wilson HTM, a committed supporter of the event since it was established in 2005. Winner Leanne Stevens (of East Brisbane), Area Director for the Queensland Ambulance Service, also won the excellence award for business information systems.
The final award of the night was presented by major sponsor Mirvac CEO Chris Freeman to Sidney Chu (of Everton Park). The Top MBA Award recognises excellence across the program and goes to student with the highest marks in eight core subjects.
Chu is a UQ engineering graduate (winning the UQ medal in 1999) who worked for Arup in Australia and internationally before enrolling in the MBA program. He was also a member of this year's winning Boston Consulting Group competition team.
Winning awards for excellence in particular fields were Rong Ye of St Lucia (Accounting and Accountability), Lex Sonnenberg of Jamboree Heights (Finance), Chirag Jain of Indooroopilly (Marketing), and James Woods of Everton Park (Organisation and Communication).
Tim Brailsford said the award for excellence in international business was won by Jane Felton.
He said, "Unfortunately Jane was unable to pick up her award in person as she has already - appropriately - taken up a dream job in Austria."
The Top MBA Awards were established in 2005.
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