Professor Rachel Webster of the School of Physics, former Chancellor Ms Fay Marles, and alumnae Professor Elizabeth Blackburn AC and Ms Keran Howe have all been recognised in the 2010 awards.

Professor Rachel Webster is a leading Australian astrophysicist and was Australia’s second full-time female physics professor.

“When Professor Webster joined the School of Physics in 1992, there were no female professors of Physics anywhere in Australia," says Professor David Jamieson, Head of the School of Physics. 

"Thanks to her hard work and dedication, she has established an internationally-renowned astrophysics research group and has risen to become the first female professor of physics in Victoria, and only the second in Australia.” 

“She has set high standards in research and established a tradition of excellence in her work in the wider university.” 

Professor Webster established the University's first astrophysics research group. She has graduated more than 20 PhD physics students, many of whom now hold research positions at leading international astrophysics centres. Professor Webster has also made a lasting contribution to the administration of the university's PhD programs.

“I hope that I have enabled young women to understand that they are capable, and that they have something substantial and different to contribute to science,” says Professor Webster.

“I am proud I have had the opportunity to encourage and support young women to achieve excellence within a traditionally male-dominated field."

Ms Fay Marles is a Melbourne graduate in social work who also taught in the university’s social work program.  She was Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Commissioner and Chancellor of the university from February 2001 to January 2005.

University alumna and Australia’s first female Nobel Prize winner Professor Elizabeth Blackburn has also been named on the Honour Roll for her groundbreaking (and Nobel Prize-winning) research.

Professor Blackburn obtained a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science at the University of Melbourne. She went on to become a leader in the study of telomeres, the protective sections of DNA at the ends of chromosomes.

Ms Keran Howe, Victorian Women with Disabilities Network Executive Officer and university alumna was recognised for her work promoting the human rights of women, and in particular, women with disabilities, in Victoria. 

Ms Howe studied at the University of Melbourne and pursued a career in social work following a car accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury,