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JULY 2013

President’s message

Welcome to the July 2013 edition of AlumniLinc. In the following pages we provide an overview of University and Association activities since the last issue. Some of you may have participated in events mentioned. We hope you continue to enjoy a sense of community with one another and affiliation with your old University. Remember, we are the oldest active alumni association among New Zealand’s eight universities, so we have a proud record to uphold. For the Alumni Association, two big steps this year have been the drafting and adoption of a new set of Association Rules to replace the old ‘Constitution’, and the signing of an updated Memorandum of Understanding between the Association and the University.

The new Rules, adopted at the AGM on 31 May 2013, bring us into the modern era and ‘future proof’ the Association. There are, for example, changes around the use of electronic means to notify alumni of meetings and also the need for members to pay subs has been removed (no subs have been collected for a number of years now). The Rules and the AGM Minutes may be viewed at http://alumnilinc.lincoln.ac.nz/?page=Alumni_Assoc The MOU further strengthens the relationship between the Association and the University and formalises the work of the University’s Alumni and Development Office on behalf of the Association. Also ushering us into a new era has been the establishment of the ‘Alumni and Development Office’ (replacing the shorter named Alumni Office). This emerged from the University’s Business Development Group restructure and has enabled a focusing of resources. Team members are the University’s Director of Communications and Development, Tafflyn Bradford-James, and two Alumni and Development Officers, namely existing staff member Penny Curran, and new appointee Anisha Thomas, a 2013 BCom graduate who was employed by the Alumni Office while a student and is now a full-time staff member. Also attached to the team in the position of Heritage Writer is Ian Collins. In addition, we welcome a newly elected alumni representative on the Lincoln University Council, Peter Chamberlain. Peter joins Peter Wardell as the second alumni representative on the Council, elected through the Court of Convocation. By the way, the Business Development Group has recently been re-named LincolnConnect, which means the Alumni and Development Office is now part of LincolnConnect. So, we are all set for a new era, and I am delighted to have been voted back in as President for another term. I look forward to continuing to serve the Association as it works on behalf of members everywhere. Best wishes and happy reading. Jo Spencer-Bower President Lincoln University Alumni Association

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JULY 2013

Graduation 2013

A record 42 doctorates were conferred at Lincoln University’s 2013 Graduation Ceremony held over morning and afternoon sessions at the Lincoln Event Centre on Friday 12 April. By way of comparison, 10 years ago the PhD count at Graduation was 25. A total of 567 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded at the ceremonies, presided over by Chancellor Tom Lambie. For Vice-Chancellor Dr Andrew West, who took up his post in April 2012, it was his second Lincoln University Graduation Ceremony. In his addresses he told graduands that the planet needed them. “As land-based professionals your task is to help humanity keep Earth as a warm, wet, greenhouse planet … a decent place to live.” He invited the graduands to pursue successful careers and eventually “take the baton of social responsibility” from his generation. Lincoln graduates were to be found around the planet, he said, in roles aligned to Lincoln University’s core values of feeding the world, protecting the future and helping others to live well.

Describing these as “noble things to do”, he exhorted the graduands to “go out there and be noble!” Alumnus John Palmer (BAgrSc 1968) currently chair of Rabobank NZ Ltd, Air NZ and the NZ Kiwifruit Marketing Board, received an honorary Doctor of Commerce degree; and well-known former staff member and inaugural chief executive of Irrigation New Zealand, Dr Terry Heiler, received the Bledisloe Medal for 2013. Both sessions were preceded by processions from the campus down through Lincoln township to the Event Centre in Gerry Meijer Drive (named after former Lincoln University Plant Science staff member and Lincoln community stalwart Gerry Meijer). The processions were led by this year’s Esquire Bedel, retiring Professor of Nature Conservation, Dr Ian Spellerberg.

Danielle Grace Berry, BCom graduate, being ‘capped’ by Chancellor Tom Lambie at the 2013 Graduation Ceremony

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JULY 2013

Dr Terry Heiler - 2013 Bledisloe Medal recipient

Wisdom and humour were the basis of speeches delivered by Lincoln University’s 2013 Bledisloe Medal recipient Dr Terry Heiler. Upon receiving his medal, Dr Heiler urged students and the University as a whole to “think widely” and to “cast your minds out to the peripheries of influence.” “All activities have outside impacts and influences. When you explore

the impacts you are likely to have in your projects and development work, then come back to your proposal, you will see that your perspective will change.” He urged greater emphasis on interdisciplinarity and attention to areas where disciplines can meet. This applied as much to the personal intellectual outlook of students as to the University’s teaching. Interdisciplinarity can

break down barriers and “silo thinking”, he said, such as between commerce and the hard sciences. Dr Heiler believes that Lincoln University could make better use of its alumni who are still working professionally. They are an “untapped resource” and their experience and expertise could be usefully harnessed to the advantage of students and the institution as a whole.

The big issue in New Zealand is land use and water quality, and the impact of agricultural intensification. Boiled down, it is an issue about “feeding yourself” he said. New Zealand and Lincoln University were in privileged positions in the world. “It’s an area of traditional interest to the University and the expertise we can offer through our graduates is required internationally.”

In the traditional Bledisloe Medallist’s Luncheon, held this year on 31 May at the Lincoln Event Centre, Dr Heiler gave what he described as a “deliberately light” address recounting amusing moments and others from his years at Lincoln University, from his arrival in 1966 until the mid-1990s when he left to pursue private consultancy work. He said he arrived at the tail end of a golden period when luminaries such as Burns, Philpott, Burton, Langer and Hayward still walked the campus. “I arrived as a single-purpose, hard-nosed, brash Australian engineer and left many years later with something of a green wash over me and a much broader outlook, convinced of the importance of an interdisciplinary outlook.” Lincoln University was transformational in his personal development, he said, and he hoped it would remain so into the future for others. For the full text of Dr Heiler’s Bledisloe Medal citation go to http://alumnilinc.lincoln.ac.nz/?page=bledisloe_medal

2013 Bledisloe Medalist Dr Terry Heiler with Chancellor Tom Lambie and Vice-Chancellor Dr Andrew West

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JULY 2013

Anzac Service well supported … and College fruit cakes remembered!

A strong contingent of alumni and present and past Lincoln University staff members supported this year’s Lincoln Community Anzac Service, held at the Lincoln Event Centre on the afternoon of 25 April under the theme of ‘Community Togetherness’. Guest speakers included Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Communities, Professor Hirini Matunga and the President of the Alumni Association Jo Spencer-Bower. Lincoln University’s Senior Chaplain, Rev. Glenda Hicks was one of the two officiating clergy. Staff members Rachel Gabbard-Jaspers and Anna Soboleva of the University’s LincolnConnect team did the Roll of Honour readings; Dr Mark Wilson of the Commerce Faculty recited ‘Ode to the Fallen’ by Lawrence Binyon; the Mayor of Selwyn, alumnus Kelvin Coe, was a

guest of honour along with former staff member and past coordinator of the event, Vern Clark ONZM; Deputy Chief Fire Officer of Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade, staff member Roger McLenaghen, was present with the Fire Service representatives; and the pianist was former staff member Alys Allan. Catering for the afternoon tea was organised through the University’s Lincoln Hospitality staff. The Anzac Service which started years ago as a purely Lincoln University/Lincoln College remembrance occasion is now the official Lincoln community service. It is organised through a community-based committee chaired by retired Air Force Squadron Leader Gordon Habgood.

In her speech, Alumni President Jo Spencer-Bower drew attention to the way the Alumni Association’s forerunner, the Old Students’ Association, plus the Students’ Association, supported its members who were on military service overseas during the Second World War. She read extracts from letters of thanks written by appreciative former students who were then soldiers, sailors and airmen and had received parcels from the College. Almost all mentioned with gratitude the fruit cakes, baked on campus by the Matron and others, and sent to them overseas. Nearly 400 such cakes were produced during the war.

Staff member Rachel Gabbard-Jaspers

(left) with former staff member and

BSRM Alumna (2012) Melissa Barnett

(right) with a memorial plaque at the

Anzac Service in April 2013

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JULY 2013

Investiture day for retired Vice-Chancellor

Retired Vice-Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Roger Field, was at Government House, Wellington, on 23 May for his appointment by the Governor-General as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). The award, notified in the 2013 New Year Honours List, was for services to education and land-based industries made over a career of more than 40 years. Professor Field was accompanied at the investiture by wife Carolyn and Lincoln University’s Chancellor Tom Lambie. Vice-Chancellor, Dr Andrew West, described Roger’s award as “richly deserved.” Chancellor Tom Lambie

said the Lincoln University community was delighted with the acknowledgement of a tertiary education leader who has given his “heart and soul to serving New Zealand’s land-based interests” through the management of Lincoln University. In receiving the award, Professor Field acknowledged the work of others who had assisted his efforts over the years and said that “as a team we managed to put agriculture back on the front foot” and achieve recognition for Lincoln University as a leader in education and research for New Zealand’s land-based industries, which form such an important part of the country’s economy.

Congratulations to the following alumni named in this year’s New Year and Queen’s Birthday honours lists: Dr Doug Edmeades (PhD in Soil Science), ONZM for services to agriculture Hon Rodney Hide (MSc in Resource Management) QSO for services as a Member of Parliament

Dr Murray Horn (BAgrCom, MAgrCom), CNZM for services to business and health. Please notify the Alumni and Development Office if you know of other alumni on this year’s lists.

Registering for the Alumni Association’s new electronic communications network AlumniLinc has paid dividends for alumni Brian Burrough and Andrew Mason. They have each won themselves $500.00 gift cards for Amazon.com through prize draws associated with registering for AlumniLinc. Brian (BAgrCom 1980) won the prize draw for those who registered between 1 March and 3 June, and Andrew (DipFM 1991) won the draw for those who registered themselves and subsequently used the referral system to encourage the registration of others. Congratulations Brian and Andrew, we are sure that you and everyone else on AlumniLinc will enjoy the ease with which it allows alumni to keep in touch.

Alumni on 2013 honours lists

AlumniLinc prize-winners

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JULY 2013

Swansong for field days on corner site near University

The oldest, the largest, and the last on its well-known site! The 2013 South Island Agricultural Field Days event, held over 20-22 March on a 35-hectare site on the corner of Shands Road and Ellesmere Junction Road, close to Lincoln University, was the last on this site. The oldest and largest agricultural event in the South Island has outgrown the site (owned by the University), and the University is keen to make use of the area in an expansion of its nearby Dairy Research Farm. Over 20,000 people visited the Field Days this year and a good number of those with Lincoln University connections took the opportunity to call by the Alumni Association’s retro ‘student lounge’ hospitality stand for a spot of socialising, the way it used to be.

The 1970’s style ‘student lounge’ was the creation of the University’s alumni, marketing and design staff, and featured all sorts of elements from the past, including comfy sofas and a radiogram set against a very realistic window backdrop. Alumni and others happily called in for tea, coffee, cakes and a chat. Since then the ‘student lounge’ has featured again, at the Mystery Creek Fieldays, and it is planned for it to have another outing at the Christchurch A&P Show later this year.

Lincoln University's alumni retro lounge at South Island Field Days

Alumni Errol Costello (left) and Rod Plank with Alumni and Development Officer Penny Curran (right)

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JULY 2013

“Send for the College!”

Memories of the days when fire-fighting in the Lincoln community was undertaken by Canterbury Agricultural College personnel and equipment will be revived at Labour Weekend when the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade marks the 50th anniversary of its founding. The story of the brigade and its origins will be told in a jubilee history, written by Tony Phillips, and will include material on the early campus-based fire-fighting capability. For a long time the College’s equipment was a two-wheeled, rubber-tired hand-cart with hoses, axes and beaters. “Send for the College” was the cry that went out in the early days when fires occurred locally. In the late 1940s students formed the core of the fire-fighting force, guided by enthusiastic staff members and the group attended fires within the Lincoln-

Rolleston-Springston area. They moved around by truck with a high-pressure trailer pump, but with field fires there was heavy reliance on manual beating. It is recorded that in 1954 the force saved the Springston Methodist Church and in 1955 the Lincoln Maternity Hospital. In 1960 the Ministry of Works lent the College a trailer pump and a MOW fire officer gave weekly training until staff and student volunteers became proficient. Older alumni will have their memories of the early College fire-fighting force. If you have an anecdote or experience you would like to pass on for recording, please contact writer Ian Collins in the Alumni and Development Office, by phone on (03) 423 0010 or by email at ian.collins@lincoln.ac.nz

Congratulations to alumna and netballer Jessica Drummond (2013 Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management graduate) on her selection for the Mainland Netball Zone Under-23 Team to compete in the inaugural National Under-23 Age Group Championships in Wellington over 15-18 July. Earlier this year Jessica was appointed Youth Development Officer with Mid Canterbury Netball, Ashburton. Jessica, who is a past captain of the Canterbury U-21s, is a member of the Tactix Accelerant Squad and captain of the successful Lincoln University A team. She plays in the mid-court, (usually centre or wing attack), and was Lincoln University’s Sportsperson of the Year for Netball in 2011.

Lincoln University’s Jessica Drummond, to compete at national level in the

under-23 netball tournament

Netball career continues upward

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JULY 2013

Victory for the Lincoln University rugby team in the Hart O’Reilly match against Canterbury University on 18 May augured well for further success this season. That onward success came on 15 June when Lincoln University won the first round of the Christchurch Club Rugby Competition and collected the Hawkins Cup. It was the team’s seventh straight win of the season, beating Linwood 36 – 10.

In the earlier Hart O’Reilly match, part of the Christchurch Metro Competition, Lincoln University retained the trophy, beating Canterbury University 50 – 22. The Hart O’Reilly Trophy, in the form of a carved wooden rugby ball, was introduced in 2006 and commemorates two famous coaches - the late Denis ‘Joe’ Hart of Lincoln University and the late Laurie O’Reilly of Canterbury University.

Rugby success

Memorandum of Understanding

A new relationship between Lincoln University and the Lincoln University Alumni Association has been established with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two bodies, confirmed at the AGM on 31 May 2013. Among provisions, the MOU continues to make membership of the Alumni Association automatic and free of charge to former students and present and retired staff. An earlier MOU had limited the staff category to “academics” and used the term “graduates” which excluded those former students who had completed just one semester or been at Lincoln on Study Abroad programmes. Other provisions include agreement that the University will fund the operations and salary costs of the Alumni and Development Office in full

including costs associated with running the Association Executive meetings and the AGM. The importance of the database is also acknowledged in the MOU, with agreement that “the University will manage a database of alumni and shall steward the data and communications with the alumni according to best practice”. The importance of the Association as an advisory body is also covered in the MOU with agreement that the Association “will operate in an advisory capacity, providing input and feedback to the University, from the alumni body, to the Vice-Chancellor on a regular basis”.

Scrum time: Lincoln and Canterbury University students battle it out on the rugby field at Lincoln University

The Hart O’Reilly Trophy

Memorandum of Understanding

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JULY 2013

Technology, like time, never stands still. To bring alumni communications into the 21st century Lincoln University’s Alumni and Development Office launched a new online system of contact on 10 April 2013. Like the newsletter generated from the system, it’s called AlumniLinc and offers a complete package of contact and communication capabilities between the Alumni and Development Office and you; between you and the Alumni and Development Office; and between you and your fellow alumni. AlumniLinc enables you to log on and create a profile of yourself and keep details about yourself up-to-date; it allows you to find other alumni and send messages to them via the system, without contact details being made public; it allows you to select

events you wish to be kept informed about and to register for those events online; and it allows you to form your own closed groups of alumni with whom you wish to communicate. The system will hold your contact details securely. Prior to and since the launch, the Alumni and Development Office has been contacting alumni and building a database of electronic contact details. The response has been terrific and alumni are embracing AlumniLinc. Please log in, check and update your contact details through the site at http://alumnilinc.lincoln.ac.nz and forward this link to any other alumni you are in touch with.

Call from down memory lane…

Alumni memories of student days at Lincoln invariably extend outwards from the confines of the campus to the attractions and facilities of nearby Christchurch and further afield to the outdoor recreational areas of Canterbury for skiing, hunting and mountaineering. Many students boarded with families around the district, and these families remember those days too. AlumniLinc has had an enquiry from one such family who farmed at Ladbrooks and had six Lincoln students as boarders at various times during the 1970s and into the 1980s. The family would love to know what became of their student boarders after they left Lincoln - and we would too, for our records. Sue Jarman, Bev Black, Douglas Barton, Malcolm Smith, Geoff Downer, Nick Murdoch, if you are reading this, or if anyone who knows or knew any of the six is reading this, would you please get in touch with us at alumni@lincoln.ac.nz or send in a contact form through AlumniLinc.

AlumniLinc - keeping in touch today’s way

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JULY 2013

Introducing Lincoln University Community Archive

The Lincoln University Community Archive is an open access interactive website that has been developed to provide Lincoln University staff, students and alumni with stable, long-term storage for digital records. It stores the online history of the people, events, and community since the founding of the institution.

The Community Archive is also used to collect, preserve and distribute the photographs, heritage items and publications of Lincoln University and links them where relevant to the Lincoln University Research Archive at: http://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/

Online access to both archives is open and available to everyone worldwide, unless licenced otherwise.

Users are encouraged to register and share their Lincoln photos and stories, and are invited to assist us to name the people and places in the images, either by emailing the site using the contact form, or tagging or commenting on individual items. When registered

and logged in, users have access to their search history and their account where they can see what they have contributed since registering. The site also features a private collection space for each registered user which allows for the collection of individual items or the creation of a personal presentation in an album from items that have been bookmarked.

Visit the Community Archive through AlumniLinc or direct at http://communityarchive.lincoln.ac.nz. Select the Register button in the top right hand corner and follow the instructions as prompted, then log in using an email address and password. Log in is also possible using a Facebook social media account.

The feedback form can be found at: http://communityarchive.lincoln.ac.nz/pages/contact

The Administrator for the Lincoln University Community Archive is Roger.Dawson@lincoln.ac.nz who is based in Library, Teaching and Learning.

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JULY 2013

New awards expand scope of LU Foundation’s Farmer of Year

Recognition that running a cutting-edge farm business involves a range of skill sets, from human resources management to consumer and marketing awareness, has led to expansion of the prize categories in the Lincoln University Foundation’s South Island Farmer of the Year competition.

Nominations or entries for the 2013 competition are open now and close on 1 August 2013. Judging will take place during September/October with the finals night scheduled for November. The prize categories are now: (1) BNZ Award for best human resource management, (2) Lincoln University Award for technology and innovation, (3) Silver Ferns Farm ‘Pasture to Plate’ award for consumer focus, and (4) Resource Use Efficiency Award for excellence in sustainable resource management.

Each award carries a cash prize of $5,000, with the top prize for the overall winner now at $20,000. As in the past, the top award is in the form of a travel grant to visit and study overseas farming enterprises and learn about new opportunities, processes and technology that will benefit New Zealand.

LU Foundation Chair, Ben Todhunter, says that each category represents one of the key elements that need to be working well to drive a successful farming business.

“The prize categories in the competition have been expanded because we wanted to give recognition to the fact that running a farming operation to produce the best results is about handling a range of resources in an efficient and innovative way.”

Nomination forms are available at www.lincolnuniversityfoundation.org.nz

1951-52 DipAg Reunion at Ranfurly April 2013

Back row (left to right): Pete Smith, Wally Simmers, John Taylor, John J. Galloway, Colin Howie Front row (left to right): Keith Whitfield, Bruce Todd, Ross Prattley, Dugald McKenzie and Tom Hickmott

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JULY 2013

Reunions in Australia Two opportunities are looming for alumni in Australia (both Kiwis and Aussies) to get together, socialise and ‘shoot the breeze’ over food and drinks. On Thursday 15 August the Lincoln Alumni (NSW) branch will host a pre-Bledisloe Cup Dinner at The Hero of Waterloo, Lower Fort Street, The Rocks, Sydney. Lincoln University's Vice-Chancellor, Dr Andrew West, will attend, so if you don’t know him or haven’t met him yet, here’s your chance. There will be a special prize for the most entertaining anecdote from your Lincoln days!

If you would like to attend, RSVP to asboddy@bigpond.net.au or at http://alumnilinc.lincoln.ac.nz/events/event_list.asp by 12 August. Cost $50 per head, includes beer, wine, and soft drinks. For Victoria based alumni, there will be a reunion in Melbourne in early November. More details about that later through the AlumniLinc site. Keep a lookout.

Alumni from the Diploma in Agriculture class of 1958-59 set their sights on Tasmania for their latest reunion and were hosted in fine style by Ron Hay from Melbourne and Judy and Kerry Kilby of Tasmania.

Twenty-four alumni plus partners descended on Launceston for a week of visits, touring and activities. From galleries, farms and tourist spots to a distillery, Mount Lyell Mining and even a meeting with the Mayor of the Tasmanian local government area of West Coast, Darryl Gerrity, the programme was full of interest. The baton for organising the next reunion, in three years time, has been passed to Bill Ritchie, and it will be held in the North Island, New Zealand.

Tasmania chosen as reunion venue

Alumni from the 1958-59 Diploma class on their reunion tour

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JULY 2013

Year opened with reunion for ‘landmark’ group

What an inspiring start to the year’s alumni functions - the Colombo Plan Reunion from Friday 1 February to Sunday 3 February. It opened on the nicest of summer nights with al fresco dining under the trees on the lawn in front of Ivey Hall, continued on the Saturday with a ‘Think Tank Workshop’ based in the Commerce Building, followed by a formal banquet in Hudson Hall in the evening, and concluded on the Sunday with a campus tour and bus tour of Christchurch and surrounding areas. The reunion was the inspiration of retired staff members Dr Alistair and Dr Pat Campbell who worked with Alumni and Development Officer Penny Curran to bring together this highly significant gathering. As Chancellor Tom Lambie said in his welcoming speech, the Colombo Plan was a “landmark in the development of New Zealand’s international relations and in the development of the countries it served. It was also a landmark in the history of Lincoln University and progressively brought the first big group of international students to the campus.”

The guest speaker on Friday night was Dr Hanif Quazi, whose association with the University stretches back to 1967 when he arrived from Pakistan for PhD study under Professor Reinhart Langer. Dr Quazi was the University’s alumni international medallist in 2009.

The guest speaker at the banquet was Dr Yee Chow Boi of Malaysia, who completed an honours degree in Agricultural Science and a PhD at Lincoln University. He spoke of Lincoln as a “bedrock of quality and practical experience.” Speaking at the banquet, Lincoln University’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Business Development, Jeremy Baker, said that international alliances and collaborations such as those that emerged through the Colombo Plan were essential in the modern world, and particularly for a land-based university like Lincoln. “Issues around the health, safety and sustainability of the land, water and atmosphere have no boundaries. They are common to us all,” said Mr Baker. Among other speakers in the course of the weekend was Dr Margaret Chan Kit Yok from Malaysia, who graduated BAgrSc (Hons) and PhD from Lincoln University and was president of the University’s International Club in 1979. Margaret spoke during the ‘Think Tank Workshop’ session. Altogether around 60 former Colombo Plan students from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s and their Kiwi classmates attended the weekend’s activities.

Colombo Plan reunion guest speakers: Dr Hanif Quazi (left) and Dr Margaret Chan Kit Yok

Colombo Plan reunion: Chancellor Tom Lambie welcomes guests at the opening night barbecue dinner on the lawn in front of

Ivey Hall

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JULY 2013

Nepal dinner honours Pat Devlin

Alumni in Nepal came together in May to honour their respected university teacher, Dr Pat Devlin, and help him celebrate his 75th birthday in the country to which he has given so much service. Dr Devlin is held in high regard in Nepal for the contribution he has made to education and parks management, and is known affectionately as ‘Pat Guru’. At the celebration in Kathmandu, Dr Devlin was accompanied by his wife Maureen and Lincoln University’s Professor of Tourism, Dr David Simmons.

Dr Devlin’s students since 1970 include conservationists Mingma Norbu, Ang Rita, Lakpa Norbu, Ramprit Yadav, Hum Gurung, and Shailendra Thakali. Many of his early students went on to be involved in the establishment in 1976 of Sagarmatha National Park, a Natural World Heritage Site. Mingma Norbu died in a helicopter crash in 2008 and his name is commemorated in the Mingma Norbu Sherpa Scholarships that bring two Nepali students to Lincoln University annually to study conservation science. Alumni at Dr Devlin’s celebration dinner included Nepal’s Secretary of the Ministry of Forests, Krishna C. Paudel, who presented Dr Devlin with a plaque of appreciation. 23 percent of all land in Nepal is managed by Lincoln University graduates and Lincoln University alumni include the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of the Department of Parks and Wildlife Service; the CEO of the Annapurna conservation area; and the head of the WWF’s in-country programme.

Dr Pat Devlin with the Lincoln University alumnus who presented him a plaque of appreciation

Professor David Simmons speaking at the dinner in Nepal

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JULY 2013

Shape of things to come

The building development plan for Lincoln University’s Selwyn campus over the next 25 years was unveiled to the public on 18 June. The Campus Master Plan, as it is called, establishes a blueprint for the physical shape of future learning, working and living on campus, and expands the current ‘campus’ to include the partnership developments that will take place through implementation of the Lincoln Hub concept. The Campus Master Plan brings to fruition work that has been underway for a number of years to develop a long-term plan to upgrade the University’s building stock on campus and to anticipate the learning and teaching needs of a contemporary university well into the future.

“The Canterbury earthquakes added momentum to the planning and changed the thinking by adding new constraints and imperatives”, says the University’s Group Manager, Corporate Services, Murray Dickson. “Through the post-earthquake Better Business Case process with the Government a number of additional opportunities have arisen, the most significant of which is the Lincoln Hub, which now forms an integral part of the Campus Master Plan.” The Lincoln Hub is a joint venture between Lincoln University and key partners: AgResearch, Plant and Food Research, Landcare Research and DairyNZ. For more details and to view a map of the Master Plan and The Hub, go to http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/News--Events/News/Current/Lincoln-University-Selwyn-Campus-Master-Plan-/

Congratulations to final year BSc (Hons) student Megan Outram, the winner of the Lincoln University Alumni Association degree scholarship. The scholarship, valued at $7,500, is open to final year students and is awarded on academic merit.

Megan, a past pupil of Christchurch’s Hillmorton High School and a Future Leader scholar at Lincoln University 2010 -2012, plans to go on to PhD study in molecular biology. Her honours thesis, in the area of plant pathology, concerns root rot in grapevines, a devastating and economically costly disease.

A concept drawing of the campus. Ivey Hall is indicated by

Alumni scholarship winner

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JULY 2013

Save the date - LURFC and LUAA Golf Tournament

Calling all alumni! Here’s an opportunity to help current Lincoln students and support the worthy service of Youthline, and in particular, its youth suicide work. Future Leader scholar Kate Murray-Cawte is helping fellow scholars to organise this year’s annual Lend a Hand Event. The students are running a charity auction on the evening of 28 September to raise funds for Youthline. There will be an auction, a guest speaker and bands providing music.

If you have any goods you are able to provide for auctioning, or if you would like to purchase a ticket for the event, then contact Kate at kate.murray-cawte@lincolnuni.ac.nz Products and goods you think would have popular appeal at a charity auction are what the students are looking for at this stage.

The annual LU Sports Golf Tournament and Challenge Cup will be held on Friday 20 September 2013 to coincide with the Massey AG Exchange on Saturday 21 September.

The Golf Tournament will tee off from 12:30pm at the Burnham Golf Club and will be $30 entry.

All Lincoln graduates, staff and current students (including the Golf scholars) are eligible to play for the Challenge Cup.

Traditionally played in Canterbury, the Golf Tournament has been held since 1937 when the Cup was donated to the Alumni Association by JW McLean.

For more information and entry forms please contact:

Graeme Campbell at Graeme.Campbell@lincoln.ac.nz or call him on 0271680055

Future Leader Scholars lending a hand

Diane Stalker (left) the winner of the 2012 Challenge Cup, Sports Coordinator Graeme Campbell and Michael Gawith (right)

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JULY 2013

In Memorium

Sydney King Carswell 1912—2013 Sid died in Tauranga on 16 April 2013. At 100 years of age he was probably Lincoln University’s oldest alumnus. He completed a Diploma of Agriculture in 1934-1935 and embarked on a career teaching agriculture in high schools throughout New Zealand. John Humphrey Cooke 1926 – 2013 John died in Wellington on 1 July 2013 aged 87. The son of Lincoln township’s doctor and a past pupil of Christ’s College, John came to Canterbury Agricultural College in 1944 but interrupted his study for war service in the Navy and trained as an officer in the UK. He returned to New Zealand after the war and completed a Diploma in Agriculture and went on to farm in South Canterbury.

Frank Loe 1934 – 2013 Frank died in Amberley on 6 May 2013. Frank came to Lincoln on a Young Farmers Club scholarship and was a member of the 1955 Intensive Course. He was a member of the College’s 1st XV in 1955 and went on to successful farming career in North Canterbury. Thomas Malcolm Morrison 1925 – 2013 ‘Mac’ Morrison died in Oxley, Brisbane, on 12 May 2013. He was the father of modern horticulture at Lincoln, after joining the Plant Science Department in 1960 and being appointed foundation Professor of Horticulture in 1966. He also had a seminal role in the evolution of landscape studies and parks management.

We’re sorry if we offend

As is referred to elsewhere in this edition of AlumniLinc, we are entering a new era in the management of alumni affairs and an accurate and up-to-date electronic database of contact details is fundamental to the alumni communications role. At the moment we are still in a transition period. We have done major work on the database to date, but it is still a work in progress. With some 30,000 names in our system, you can appreciate the scale of the job. One sensitive area we are conscious of is when material is posted to alumni who are deceased and it arrives at in the mailboxes of widows or family members. It is not nice when this happens and we apologise to those individuals and family members who, in recent times, have received mail addressed to loved ones now deceased. There have been discrepancies in the information brought over from our previous database. The discrepancies are due to the way data used to be

collected, handled, stored and information wrongly merged - prior to AlumniLinc. We are in the process of cleansing the data as we receive updates from news items, as well as other alumni. The data collection process is currently under review and we are forming strict guidelines for keeping the information up-to-date. We are doing our best to get our database accurate and up-to-date and we appreciate hearing from families who can tell us when an old student has died. You are always welcome to get in touch with the Alumni and Development Office with any such information. It helps avoid embarrassment all round, and we certainly never wish to cause offence. Kind Regards, The Alumni and Development Office PO Box 85084 Lincoln University Lincoln 7647 Canterbury

(Full obituaries for the above alumni will be published

in the University’s ‘Landforms’ magazine later in the year.)