Past students support UQ Gatton Scholarship Appeal

A scholarship fund is being established to help support future generations of students attending one of Australia’s leading agricultural and natural resource institutions, UQ Gatton.

To underwrite the fund, the Gatton College Past Students Association has launched an appeal in a joint venture with the University of Queensland’s Gatton Campus.

Association President Mal Ferguson said there was strong support for the UQ Gatton Scholarship Appeal.

“It’s an opportunity for the many who have benefited from a top-class education at Gatton to put something back,” he said.

The funds raised will help students who have the desire and determination to succeed but who might not have the financial capacity to pursue tertiary study.

The appeal has a target of $250,000 with contributions tax deductible. It is aimed at more than 10,000 former students who have attended the campus at Gatton over the years.

Donors can leave a permanent record of their time spent at Gatton on specially-commissioned furniture in the campus dining hall.

The furniture is crafted from aged Queensland ironbark with plaques on chairs for a $250 donation and table plaques $1000.

Mr Ferguson said there was a sense of fellowship among former students, many of whom held positions of influence in the community throughout Australia and overseas.

The Association has an annual reunion and celebrated its 75th anniversary last year.

Mr Ferguson is well-known to many past students. He completed a degree in the 1970s and spent three years on staff tutoring in agronomy before pursuing a career in the agricultural chemical industry.

The appeal has the endorsement of high-profile graduates including Harry Debney, a UQ Gatton Gold Medal recipient who is Chief Executive of Visy Industries, and cotton industry pioneer Alan Brimblecombe, a former chairman of Cotton Australia.

Former Australian Deputy Prime Minister Doug Anthony is also a Gatton College graduate.

For details on the Scholarship Appeal, contact Mal Ferguson (telephone 3274 3443) or Anthony Smith at UQ Gatton (telephone 0409 265 587).