25 September 2020
The University of South Australia Council has voted unanimously to honour the life and contribution of former Vice Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Denise Bradley, AC, by re-dedicating its Cancer Research Institute Building, as the Bradley Building.
The dedication will become official at a special ceremony in 2021, as UniSA marks its 30th anniversary.
UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says the dedication reflects the incredible contribution Denise has made to higher education in South Australia and beyond.
“A brilliant mind, Denise also had a conviction about higher education and research in South Australia; that we could recreate the State as a place where excellent research, quality teaching and an engaged international outlook would flourish,” Prof Lloyd says.
“She led this University in its move to the West End of the city and was deeply engaged in all the plans to grow UniSA’s footprint there.
“She was also a great believer in collaboration, with business and industry, with other universities and research agencies, wherever it made sense to work together to achieve better outcomes for students, for science and research and for society.”
After a long and courageous battle with cancer Prof Bradley died on March 20 this year just as COVID-19 restrictions and travels bans came into play. Many of those who would have wanted to attend her funeral were unable to do so.
Professor Lloyd says he hopes the building dedication will give South Australians and the UniSA community the chance to honour Denise and pay proper tribute to her legacy.
“Denise was a trailblazer in so many ways,” he says.
“She embodied what it was to be a great female leader at a time when there were fewer of them; she encouraged talent and excellence wherever she found it; she believed wholeheartedly that access to education could change lives and she set about providing greater access for more people to come to university.
“In naming the Bradley building, we honour her enduring contribution, but we do so as a reminder for future generations that it is people like Denise that create change, shape fairer societies and light the way.”
The Bradley building is a flagship research, teaching and public engagement facility for the University.
It is home to UniSA’s key Clinical and Health Sciences research concentrations looking into diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart and cardiovascular disease and a range of related therapies.
It is the base for research into population health, radiotherapy and genomics and includes teaching spaces in fields such as pharmacy and other postgraduate programs.
The building also houses UniSA’s future facing Museum of Discovery MOD. and the Innovation Collaboration Centre (ICC).
Media contact: Michèle Nardelli tel: 0418823673 email: michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au
