Malena wins Wimberley Award 2014

Published On Wed 18 Jun 2014 by Roddy Isles

Photo opportunity: 9.15am on Wednesday, 18th June outside Henry’s Coffee House, City Square. Malena and her family will be available ahead of the Graduation ceremony.

Law graduand Malena Bruessel has been named this year’s winner of the University of Dundee’s Wimberley Award, given to the student who has made the most distinguished contribution to University life.

Malena (22), who will graduate tomorrow, has combined her academic endeavours with participation in all aspects of student life during her time at Dundee. She is a founding member of the newly established Dundee International Law Society, which enables students to participate in lectures focusing on international law hosted by specialists in the respective field. Malena took the initiative to enter a team into this year’s Telders International Law Moot Court Competition, where Dundee won the award for ‘Outstanding Team’.

In addition, Malena, originally from Australia, has been the Student Representative for Welfare and Equality, was a member of the Model UN Society and held the position of Oxford University Press representative for the University.

Her parents Christiane and Thomas, sister Paulina (18) and brother Robert (16) have made the 10,000-mile trip from Canberra to be with Malena on her big day in the city she has come to regard as her second home.

“I came to Dundee to study and have loved my time here,” she said. “Although I have only seen my family once a year since coming to Dundee, the city with its welcoming and wonderful nature has become a happy second home to me. I’m delighted that my parents, brother and sister are able to be with me. We’ve had a fantastic time travelling around Scotland and seeing this beautiful country together.

“I have enjoyed every part of my time at Dundee. As a University, it really facilitates and prioritises good teaching and interaction with students and being able to represent them as Student Representative for Welfare and Equality has been a very valuable experience. I am really excited to be receiving the Wimberley Award as the University has been such a special place for me that this is an incredible reward.”

Malena will now undertake a Masters programme in International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. She says her experiences at Dundee and the international competition will stand her in good stead for her future career, wherever that takes her.

Telders International is a prestigious competition where teams from European universities plead a fictitious case before the International Court of Justice. The Dundee team competed against 27 teams from across 26 countries at the event, which has been running for almost 40 years.

Although this was the first time in many years that a team from Dundee entered the competition, the students received the ‘Outstanding Team’ award, and Malena said, “The competition was a great opportunity. It enabled us to immerse ourselves into new areas of law and practice. We learnt new skills, advanced our knowledge and met young lawyers like ourselves from all over the world. It was a fantastic experience.”

The University’s Summer Graduation ceremonies take place in the Caird Hall in Dundee from Wednesday, 18th June to Friday, 22nd June. Morning and afternoon ceremonies will take place each day as around 3000 graduates from around the world receive their degrees.

Roddy Isles
Head of Press
TEL: 01382 384910
MOBILE: 07800 581902
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk