The evening was expertly MC’d by alumna Kristin Hunter, whose journey from a student of our Bachelor of Aviation (Flying) program to Qantas First Officer A330 Mainline pilot is reflected within this newsletter in the section ‘From the Cockpit’. 

The evening featured a number of highlights, including a retrospective from the school’s founder, Professor Jason Middleton who spoke about the history of the school which started with an entire asset register of two coffee cups! He also praised the continued wisdom of the deans and vice-chancellors in supporting the existence and growth of the school. You can read Jason’s full speech here. 

Jason paid homage to Emeritus Professor Ann Williamson whom he had recruited to the school in the early 2000's to be Professor of Aviation Safety. Ann went on to establish and lead the highly regarded Transport and Road Safety (TARS) Research Centre within the school of Aviation. "Her energetic leadership created a world reputation for the school's research in safety".  Unfortunately, Ann Williamson could not be present on the night as she was holidaying in Europe at the time. However, she kindly recorded this message while cruising along the Danube. You can view her video message here.

Another highlight of the evening was the brainchild of Chief Ground Instructor Jeremy Andrews, which was to honour our founders by naming some of our new aeroplanes after them. After gaining their consent, we were proud to present pictures of these in an aeroplane naming ceremony in honour of the school’s founders, Jason Middleton AO and Greg Clynick. 

Professor Merlin Crossley delivered a witty keynote, to the surprise of many members in the audience who learnt that academia and wit are not mutually exclusive! 

“Some might say it was obvious that UNSW should have a School of Aviation because once we had UNSW Canberra and our field station Fowler’s Gap near Broken Hill having an air-capability was the only way to keep in touch. We needed an airline because fast trains were never going to cut it to Canberra or to Fowler’s Gap. 

But actually of course it was visionary to establish Aviation and Aviation is hugely important to Australia and always will be. The cohort of graduates that your School has produced make an enormous contribution to the Industry and the professional networks they have provide trust and confidence that help us to have such a fine aviation sector.”

You can read Merlin’s keynote here (sans ad libs): 

Our current Head of School, Professor Brett Molesworth paid tribute to past and present, and delivered a vision for the school’s future.