2021 Award Recipients

Rising Star for Young Alumni Award

An individual who is aged 35 and under and has demonstrated an outstanding level of professional achievement and community involvement since graduating from the University of Melbourne and/or recognition by colleagues and peers of outstanding leadership and impact as a global citizen.

Lucy Liu

Lucy Liu (BCom 2010, MFinMgt 2012)

The Rising Star for Young Alumni Award is presented to an individual who is aged 35 and under. The recipient has demonstrated an outstanding level of professional achievement and community involvement since graduating from the University of Melbourne, and/or has gained recognition by colleagues and peers for outstanding leadership and impact as a global citizen.

This award recognises Ms Liu’s outstanding level of leadership and community service to date. As President and Co-Founder of Airwallex, a company which has seen rapid success and expansion, her long list of incredible achievements at such a young age is an inspiration.

At the age of 25 and with no prior start-up experience, Ms Liu together with three other University of Melbourne alumni, co-founded Airwallex, a global payment platform. Since inception, the fintech startup has seen phenomenal growth, scaling from four co-founders to over 600 staff globally in five years. Airwallex is now backed by some of the biggest investors including DST Global, Salesforce Ventures, ANZi Ventures and Square Peg Capital. After its Series C round in March 2019, Airwallex reached US$1B valuation and became the quickest company in Australian history to achieve unicorn status.

Ms Liu speaks regularly at international finance and payments seminars and events and has become a prominent thought leader in the Melbourne Start-up community. Ms Liu also gives back to the community that nurtured her talent - the University of Melbourne - by getting involved with its Melbourne Accelerator Program as a mentor.

Ms Liu’s work with early stage companies and founders, and her drive to be a female role model in the industry is equally inspiring and makes her a truly deserving recipient of the Rising Star Award.

The Faculty of Business and Economics is proud to acknowledge Ms Liu’s achievements with this award.

Read more about Ms Liu’s career achievements in this article.

Leadership Award

An individual who has achieved significant and recognised impact in business, government or the non-profit sector through leadership in career to date.

Paul Hameister OAM

Paul Hameister OAM (BCom 1991, LLB 1992)

The Leadership Award is presented to an individual who has achieved significant and recognised impact in business, government or the nonprofit sector through leadership in their career to date.

This award recognises Mr Hameister’s outstanding leadership and impact in business and property development through his award-winning company Hamton Property Group, coupled with his establishment of, and ongoing service to, the Financial Management Association of Australia (FMAA) as Co-Chairman.
Mr Hameister obtained Bachelor degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Melbourne and whilst there, in 1990, was the Founding President of the FMAA, which is now the largest commerce student society in Australia with branches at all major Universities around the country and around 5,000 paid-up student members. He remains Co-Chairman of the National Board.

Mr Hameister started his career as a lawyer with Freehills and then became an investment banker with Macquarie. He spent five years from the age of 29 as the Managing Director in Australia of Viacom (the second largest media and entertainment company in the world, whose businesses include Paramount Pictures and MTV).

He is Executive Chairman of Hamton Property Group, which he founded in 2005 and which has completed or current development projects in Melbourne of around $3.5billion.

Mr Hameister received an Order of Australia Medal in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours for service to exploration and to business. He is the first Australian to have climbed the Seven Summits and complete the Polar Hat-Trick. He has been a member of four expeditions sponsored by the Australian Geographic Society, including a 1,000km expedition through unexplored Amazon jungle. His expeditions have been captured in TV documentaries aired on Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel globally.

The Faculty of Business and Economics is delighted to honour Mr Hameister with this award and to call him one of our Alumni of Distinction.

Read more about Mr Hameister's career achievements.

Outstanding Achievement Award

An individual who has achieved long-term, sustained and outstanding achievement and leadership in business, government or the non-profit sector.

David Crawford AO (BCom 1966, LLB 1973)

The Outstanding Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated long-term, sustained and outstanding achievement and leadership in business, government and the non-profit sector.

This award recognises the outstanding passion and leadership Mr Crawford has demonstrated throughout his distinguished career, including his involvement in numerous public companies, his focus on the review and restructure of national sporting bodies, and his contributions to arts and educational organisations.

Mr Crawford has held Non-Executive Director positions with BHP Billiton, South32, The Australian Ballet, the Melbourne Cricket Club, LendLease Corporation Limited, Australia Pacific Airports Corporation Limited, National Foods Limited, Foster's Group and Westpac Banking Corporation. A truly deserving recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award, Mr Crawford conducted a game-changing review of the AFL – The David Crawford Report – in the 1990’s which played a pivotal role in the creation of the AFL’s commission structure. Following this, he contributed to the Federal Government’s Independent Soccer Inquiry – The Crawford Report – of Soccer Australia in 2003, chaired the Federal Government’s committee for The Future of Sport in Australia report in 2009 as Chairman of the Independent Sport Panel, contributed to the Thoroughbred Racing Industry Review for Racing Victoria in 2007 and co-authored Cricket Australia’s Crawford and Carter Governance Review in 2011.

Mr Crawford was a recipient of the Centenary Medal 2003 and in 2009 was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to business, to sport and to the community.

Mr Crawford is an inspiration to students and the wider community and the Faculty of Business and Economics is honoured to celebrate his achievements and proud to call him one of our distinguished alumni.

Read more about Mr Crawford's career achievements in this article.