Last week the the University recognised a group of staff who have reached the milestone of 25+ years of service to Macquarie.

Incredibly, the University was also able to recognise – for the first time – two staff who have reached a staggering 50 years of service: Professor David Throsby (Department of Economics) and Dr Richard Flood (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences). Having commenced at Macquarie just a few years after the University’s founding in 1964 , these two men have been witness to almost every event in our 55-year history.

Read Richard’s reflections on 50 years at Macquarie >>

Among those honoured at the event were four staff in the Mia Mia Child and Family Study Centre who have devoted a collective 100 years to early childhood education at Macquarie.

(L-R) Mia Mia’s Wendy Shepherd, Janet Robertson, Carol Lee and Nancy Backhouse, with congratulations cards made by the Centre’s children.

Wendy Shepherd – who retired from her position as Director of Mia Mia earlier this year – says it was a very special moment for the four.

“I remember when I started at Macquarie, the Institute of Early Childhood didn’t have a building and Mia Mia was just a building plan and a pegged piece of land,” she says.

“The Head of School had an office in the Education building but others had to use our cars to store our books and we wandered around campus getting lost while looking for our assigned teaching spaces (we found ourselves teaching in some very strange locations!). The X5B building was finally completed in 1994 and Mia Mia opened in July of that year.

“It is a milestone for four Mia Mia staff to reach 25 years and reflect on the sense of place and belonging that Mia Mia imparts, not only for staff but also for children and families who return each year for our annual reunion. Some of our Mia Mia graduates are now graduates of Macquarie … a true sense of belonging.”

Congratulations and thank you to our long-serving staff

50+ years of service

25+ years of service