Archived Media Release

26 January 2010

Australia Recognises Professor Sangkot Marzuki’s Achievements and Service

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer today invested Professor Sangkot Marzuki as an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia for his ongoing service to Australia-Indonesia relations through scientific collaborations and for promoting Australian tertiary education in Indonesia.

In Australia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Julia Gillard commended Professor Marzuki on his scientific achievements, saying it was a fitting acknowledgement of his ongoing dedication to the promotion of quality education in Australia and Indonesia.

Professor Marzuki himself spent over twenty years of his academic and professional career in Australia, during which he acquired his Ph.D. (Biochemistry) at Monash University in Melbourne in 1975 and, in recognition of his Magnum Opus on human diseases due to defective energy metabolism, was awarded a Higher Doctorate (D.Sc.) from the same university in 1998.

Currently serving as Director and pre-eminent molecular biologist and geneticist at the Eijkman Institute in Jakarta, Professor Marzuki oversees Ph.D. candidates in their experimental work while they are enrolled at Monash University or other universities in Indonesia where he holds Honorary Chairs or has served as Visiting Professor.

As President of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences, Professor Marzuki continues to present at seminars in Australia, with strong collaboration with the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and Australian Academy of Sciences.

Ambassador Farmer said Professor Marzuki was an outstanding individual and important conduit for links between Australian and Indonesian medical research communities.

“Professor Marzuki promotes partnerships with Australia and is a vocal advocate of the benefits of an Australian education qualification – we value deeply his contribution to the bilateral relationship,” Mr Farmer said.

In the Australian honours system, appointments to the Order of Australia confer the highest recognition for outstanding achievement and service. Professor Marzuki joins other Indonesians who have been honoured including Hartarto Sastrosoenarto (1992), Ali Alatas (1995), Frans Seda (1999), and I Made Pastika (2003). He has received the highest civilian honour from both Australia and Indonesia having been awarded the Bintang Mahaputra Utama in 2009.

For more information on the Order of Australia, please visit www.theorderofaustralia.asn.au or www.itsanhonour.gov.au

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Jenny Dee, Counsellor (Public Affairs) Ph. (021) 2550 5290 Mob. 0811 187 3175