Sir Roland Wilson and Pat Turner scholars and alumni have been recognised for their commitment to strengthening the links between public policy and practice and engaging across academia through prizes awarded last week.

This year four prizes were awarded to current and former scholars.

Cris Castro from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment was awarded the Pat Turner Prize (Coursework) for the highest weighted average mark of a coursework student. This is the second year in a row Cris has won this prize. He is completing a Master of Leadership and will be returning to the Australian Public Service (APS) in the coming months.

Steve Munns from the Department of Human Services was awarded the Pat Turner Prize (Research) for his contribution to public policy in the past year. Steve is currently completing his PhD focused on service user violence and aggression against frontline Australian commonwealth public servants.

Jennifer Jackett from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was jointly awarded the Joan Uhr Prize for her outstanding research focused on addressing public policy challenges, engaging across academia, the Australian Public Service and through the news media.

Andrew Morgan from Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications was also awarded the Joan Uhr Prize for his commitment to strengthening the links between public policy research and practice. Andrew has adapted his PhD research on influencing public policy in the thin markets to ensure his research can deliver tangible outcomes into the future.

Neal Hughes from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences was awarded the Ian Castles Alumni Prize for his outstanding contribution to public policy in Australia. Neal’s research is focused on water, drought and climate change policy issues.

Vice-Chancellor of The Australian National University, Professor Brian Schmidt, thanked the prize winners for their efforts in strengthening the link between academic research and public policy development. He encouraged the scholars to continue this important work and further embrace their role as ambassadors for the Foundation, and as mentors of future scholars and APS leaders.

“It is these scholars who are building powerful networks: with each other, with academia and the broader public service. These networks will allow Australia to be agile, innovative and access expert knowledge quickly to solve the problems we are facing,” Professor Schmidt said.

The prizes were awarded at the 2021 Secretaries Dinner, hosted by the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation at the National Museum of Australia on 18 December.

Read more about the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation. 

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Image: Neal Hughes, Cris Castro, Andrew Morgan and Jennifer Jackett