The top curator of one of international education’s most voluminous research databases has been awarded the IEAA Award for Excellence in Professional Commentary.
Stuart Hughes, senior librarian at the Australian Council for Educational Research, was given the award for his work on the IDP Database of Research on International Education which contains close to 14,000 books, reports, articles and conference papers.
Hughes first came to Australia from New Zealand as an international student. “Twenty years later here I am collecting an award from an Australian international education organisation,” he told The PIE News.
“Here I am collecting an award from an Australian international education organisation”
Commenting on his work at the ACER, Hughes said: “I get a thrill everytime I discover something that I knew was coming out and is now online.”
Hughes was among several recipients of the awards which seek to recognise leadership and innovation in the industry. They were presented at the Australian International Education Conference in Melbourne this month.
Stephen Connelly, director of consultancy firm GlobalEd Services and a former IEAA president, was the recipient of the Distinguished Contribution award, which recognises the work of an industry professional who “has led groundbreaking initiatives to improve international education in Australia”.
Connelly was one of the first stakeholders to go on the record calling for a national strategy for international education in Australia back in 2002.
The Innovation in International Education award was presented to the initiative, International Students in Cars Getting Coffee, from Deakin University.
Each video features an interview with an international student about their studies and future plans.
The videos have been viewed over three million times across various social media platforms.
IEAA Excellence Awards 2016 winners
Distinguished Contribution – Stephen Connelly, director, GlobalEd Services
Excellence in Leadership – Julie Renwick, general manager, University of Wollongong College
Best Practice in International Education – BRIDGE School Partnership Project, Asia Education Foundation
Innovation in International Education – International Students in Cars Getting Coffee, Deakin University
Professional Commentary – Stuart Hughes, IDP Database of Research in International Education
Outstanding Postgraduate Thesis – Pamela Humphreys, deputy director, Griffith University
