I was honoured to be the guest speaker at University College London’s (UCL) first ever overseas graduation ceremony in Adelaide last week. UCL is a great British institution, regularly ranked in the top ten universities in the world. It recently established its first overseas campus – a School of Energy and Resources – in South Australia, with the encouragement of the state government and local business. This was its first graduating cohort. The School is located in the historic Torrens Building in Victoria Square, and the graduation ceremony took place at the Royal Institution (another UK-linked organisation) housed in the former Stock Exchange.
Having taken a mid-career MBA myself ten years ago I had a great deal of admiration for the graduating students, who had managed to combine study with work and family commitments. They all looked delighted to be graduating with such a prestigious qualification.
Whilst in Adelaide I had breakfast with the new Premier, Jay Weatherill who took office in October. It was interesting to see that a British-born Premier, Mike Rann, has been succeeded by a Premier whose parents met on the boat over from England. He discussed his priorities for his premiership and we talked about the opportunities for further UK/South Australia collaboration.