Opening of the Andrew N Liveris Building

Speech delivered by Professor Deborah Terry at St Lucia

Date: 13 April 2022

Thank you, Paul

Can I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we are meeting. We honour their Elders and their continuing cultural and spiritual connection to this land, as we walk together on the path to reconciliation.

I’d also like to acknowledge:

The Honourable Dr Steven Miles MP, Deputy Premier
Mr David Crisafulli MP, Leader of the Opposition
Dr Andrew Liveris AO, and Mrs Paula Liveris – and congratulations, Andrew on being named as the President of the Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. I can’t think of a better person to undertake this important role.
I also acknowledge: Mr Peter Varghese AO, Chancellor; and Professor Peter Høj AC and Professor Paul Greenfield AO, former UQ Vice-Chancellors
Representatives from government and industry; friends and donors of UQ; colleagues, distinguished guests, one and all.

It’s wonderful to be here today and to see this long-held vision finally emerge and become reality.

This event – the opening of a new, purpose-built home for the School of Chemical Engineering – has been more than a decade in the making.

Indeed, I’d like to pay tribute to my two predecessors as Vice-Chancellor – Paul Greenfield and Peter Høj – for the instrumental roles that they both played in the conception and development of this stunning building.

The idea for this building was originally conceived by the School’s newly established Industry Advisory Board, back in 2010.

As Vice-Chancellor at that time, I understand Paul approached Andrew Liveris to explain the vision for the new building – and asked for his support.

And then, Peter took up that mantle, and really ran with it, during his tenure.

Peter approved the development of the building’s “user brief” in 2014 – and the subsequent design competition that was won by Lyons and M3 Architecture.

Construction ultimately began in 2018.

And in that same year, the University Senate endorsed the naming of this new building to honour one of the School’s most successful alumni, Andrew Liveris – and to recognise an historic philanthropic gift made by Andrew and Paula.

Anyone who has had a long association with the School of Chemical Engineering will be aware that there’s a lovely symmetry in this building being named after Andrew.

If you walk just 80 metres down Cooper Road from here, you’ll come across the Don Nicklin Building, named in honour of one of Andrew’s early mentors.

The late Don Nicklin was a much-loved Professor, Dean and Pro-Vice Chancellor of this University, who inspired generations of UQ chemical engineering students.

He was renowned for his ability to seamlessly insert life lessons into the middle of a lecture on thermodynamics – quite a challenge I would have thought!

As I understand the story, when Andrew graduated from UQ in the mid ‘70s – with First Class Honours and a University Medal, I might add – he approached Don for advice on whether he should go on to study for a PhD.

Don’s advice was direct: “No,” he said. “Get out and see the world” – and that is exactly what the young Andrew Liveris proceeded to do.

Over the course of a stellar business career, Andrew, as we all know, rose to become CEO and Executive Chairman of Dow, one of the world’s largest chemical companies.

He became a true global business leader.

A friend and advisor to Presidents and Prime Ministers.

But he has never forgotten the formative impact of his alma mater.

And he’s always maintained a belief in the vital importance of education in shaping the leaders and innovators of tomorrow.

That steadfast belief prompted Andrew and Paula to donate $13.5 million to UQ in 2018 to establish the Andrew N Liveris Academy for Innovation & Leadership.

The Academy is housed on level 9 of this building and, very appropriately, right next to the UQ Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation.

This globally significant research centre was established a decade ago, largely thanks to Andrew’s influence during his tenure as Dow’s CEO.

All of this historical background is important in understanding that Andrew’s influence, and his impact, are evident throughout this building.

And what a building it is.

As you’ll discover when we head off on tours shortly, the careful thought, planning, design, and construction that have gone into the creation of this building, for over a decade, have been more than worth it.

On one level, this building works as beautifully considered architectural form.

This space we’re standing in, for instance, includes visual references to the centrepiece of this campus – the iconic Great Court.

And as you gaze upwards through the void above us, you’ll notice the colours gradually change from the greens of the tree-tops, until you reach the ‘blue-sky’ research that occurs on the upper floors.

But all of this beauty is balanced with the requirement to ensure that this is a building where our students, educators, researchers and industry partners can collaborate, create and share knowledge.

From the ability to observe and manipulate the tiniest nanomaterials, which occurs in the laboratories on the upper floors … right down to the industrial-scale, manufacturing-type learning environment that is accessible underneath where we’re standing – at ground level.

On a practical level, the completion of this building enables us to consolidate all of our chemical engineering education and research into one facility.

So, when the completed floors of the Andrew N Liveris Building are fully occupied in about a month’s time it will house staff who have been spread across 12 different buildings, located at 4 different UQ campuses or sites.

And there are, as yet, 2 floors that have not been fitted out. They will provide the University with much needed expansion space in the future.

We already have 35 different research groups in the building – working on discoveries in nanotechnology, biomedical sciences, chemical engineering, and food engineering.

And as I’ve often said, proximity sparks possibility.

Innovation is easier when you work next door to, and team up with, clever people who are working at the cutting edge of research.

This building has created an opportunity for us to bring all of those people together, and for them to work right alongside not only our students but also our industry partners.

The entire building is engineered to be a learning experience. In the words of Stephen Coombs, the School Manager, who has been involved in planning this building for over a decade: “It has achieved exactly what we set out to do.”

I would like to congratulate everybody who has played a role in the conception and development of this building.

It’s a magnificent facility that will make an important contribution to our vision of creating ‘knowledge leadership for a better world’.

It is now my privilege to invite another UQ alumnus, the Deputy Premier, Dr Steven Miles MP, to say a few words before we officially open the building.