The Chancellor’s Alumni Award was presented to internationally recognised conservator and educator Nancy Odegaard. Dr Odegaard graduated with a PhD in Applied Science – Natural and Physical Sciences in 1997. Throughout her career she has been a part of momentous occasions in history. In 2007, for example, she was part of a three-member conservation team which analysed the 3.2 million-year-old remains of the renowned early hominid Lucy, discovered in Africa in the 1970s.
She has held numerous leadership positions throughout her career, including as president of the Board of the American Institute for the Conservation of Historical and Artistic Works, during the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Dr Odegaard is currently a Professor of Anthropology and a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Arizona, and is Head of Preservation at the Arizona State Museum.
“My academic days in Australia were brief but profoundly meaningful. I am so pleased to be able to let the University of Canberra know how incredibly important my doctoral degree has been. It is an amazing honour to receive this award,” she said.
“My work as a faculty member at the University of Arizona has been enhanced though my degree from the University of Canberra. The doctorate degree affirmed my approach to conservation as a discipline and opened doors to grant funds, several books, numerous journal publications, invitations to lecture, and to university opportunities that would not have existed otherwise. It has been life changing in many ways.”
