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Thursday, 30 June 2011

Two members of our University community were recently recognised as outstanding citizens of our State.

Professor Samina Yasmeen, Director of the UWA Centre for Muslim States and Societies, was honoured with the Sir Ronald Wilson Leadership Award in the 39th annual WA Citizen of the Year Awards while Bachelor of Commerce graduate Rick Newnham was named WA Youth Citizen of the Year.

Professor Yasmeen migrated to Australia in 1977 from Pakistan and has since achieved a distinguished record of academic achievement in the fields of human rights, Muslim minority affairs and foreign policy in the Indian Ocean region. She has edited three books and has 67 academic publications.

She is also recognised as an outstanding teacher and has implemented a string of innovations to the teaching of international relations and the influences of Islam on world politics. Professor Yasmeen is highly respected and renowned in government and academic circles for her contributions to research on Muslims in Australia since the early 1990s.

Her passion has been to educate and inform the community, raise the level of understanding and build trust, tolerance, confidence, safety, respect and security for all. To achieve this, she shares her knowledge with students, government, the WA Police, the Australian Defence Force, the media and community at large.

Her achievements have brought her widespread international recognition, with speaking invitations that have included the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington and the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "I didn't expect to get this award," Professor Yasmeen said.

"I didn't even know I'd been nominated and I still don't know who nominated me! However, the award is a great honour, particularly as I knew and admired Sir Ronald Wilson.

"I hope people will understand that it's not simply me but everyone in the Centre who are recognised in this award.

Everyone in the Centre helps to build understanding and the award will hopefully draw attention to the Centre and encourage people to support it so we can do more."

Professor Yasmeen said two important people in her life had contributed to her success. Her late mother Begum Sarfraz Iqbal was a respected academic and writer in Pakistan whose roles included working as Joint Secretary of the Archaeological and Historical Association of Pakistan.

"I would also like to acknowledge my husband, Winthrop Professor James Trevelyan (in the School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering) who is a very special man. He is very supportive and I could not do what I do without him."

Rick Newnham, the son of Winthrop Professor John Newnham, head of UWA 's School of Women's and Infants' Health, was the first Western Australian to serve as the National Cadet Under Officer, charged with leading 16,500 Australian Army cadets.

He has represented young Australians at the Commonwealth Day in London and been involved with the Australian Youth Forum, the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia, the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition, and Western Australian volunteering organisation Youth Tree which he chairs.

Rick is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Left Right Think- Tank, Australia's first non-partisan think-tank for young Australians. Over the past two-and-a-half years, under Rick's leadership, the organisation has designed and delivered a fellowship program enabling young people to learn and contribute to public policy.

The organisation has also established an active and committed volunteer staff base that started in Perth and has expanded to the eastern States, and delivered Australia's first youth-led convention at Parliament House in Canberra.

"Winning the award was a really big surprise for me," Rick said. "It means a lot to be recognised for the work I've done creating a voice for young Australians in public policy. I hope to use this year to inspire other young Australians to take up volunteering opportunities right here in WA .

"This year I'll be speaking to the young leaders at universities and schools, kicking off with keynote addresses at leadership forums for the University of Queensland and Melbourne University later this month."

Published in UWA News , 27 June 2011

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