Professor Shelley Burgin AM (McCann)
RGGS Student 1960-1961
Shelley Burgin (McCann) is an Emeritus Professor at the Western Sydney University and was awarded an AM in the 2018 Australia Day Honours List.
Her childhood was spent on a dairy farm in the Biloela area where she attended the one-teacher Greycliffe School. On leaving RGGS, she worked as Coles ‘window dresser’ in Biloela for four years.
In the 1970s, she accompanied her husband to a job in Papua New Guinea. She undertook a Masters in Biology as part of a IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) project to support crocodile farming in PNG. On return to Australia, she continued her studies at Macquarie University whilst working as an academic.
After completing her PhD in Evolutionary Biology in 1989, Professor Burgin was hired as the first female lecturer in science at the then newly-created Hawkesbury campus of the University of Western Sydney.
She was appointed a Fellow by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales in 2001 with the citation ‘In recognition of outstanding contributions to the science of Zoology’. She also received an award from the ‘Australian Learning and Teaching Council’ with the citation ‘For sustained effort in enabling students to achieve beyond their dreams when learning science’.
Within the University of Western Sydney, Professor Burgin received Vice-Chancellor awards for ‘Excellence in University Engagement’, ‘Excellence in University Sustainability’, ‘Teaching Excellence’ and ‘Postgraduate Research Training and Supervision’, ‘Excellence in Community Engagement’.
When Professor Burgin resigned from the University of Western Sydney in 2017, she received the most significant award of all: ‘Emeritus Professor’ by the Board of Trustees of the University ‘in recognition of her distinguished contribution to research, research training and University engagement’.
Professor Burgin continues to publish (current academic publications >200) and support those who seek her advice/help academically.