Young Alumnus of the Year

UQ Business School MBA graduate Guy Chandler was yesterday awarded the inaugural Alumnus of the Year Award by UQ Business School's Alumni Association. An initiative of Alumni Association committee member Ben Cleary, the award is designed to recognise the achievements of a UQ Business School graduate in the early stages of their post-study career. Mr Cleary said the panel was impressed by Guy's ability to reinvent himself as a management consultant after a successful career turning around ailing private education companies. He said, "Guy graduated from UQ Business School with a close to perfect grade point average and was immediately recruited by management consulting firm The Litmus Group." "Since joining The Litmus Group, Guy has quickly gained a reputation for helping clients achieve significant success in major strategy execution and organisational change programs." "But he's not just focused on his own career - he spends a great deal of time developing the skills and knowledge of his younger colleagues through lunchtime coaching sessions. Mr Cleary said Guy was also leading a team of junior Litmus staff members through the development of a business plan for a local Brisbane charity. Part of the prize for the Young Alumnus of the Year award winner is a place on one of UQ Business School's Corporate Education courses in 2010. Mr Cleary said, "The aim of the award is to recognise early success post-graduation and inspire alumni to continue to learn and develop their skills." Highly commended for the award was Shane Chidgzey who started his own business after finishing his Bachelor of Business degree. His consulting company iPLAN Consulting now provides services to many Australian engineering and construction companies. Shane himself was recently headhunted by Rio Tinto where he now holds a managerial position.