24 June 2009

Wimberley award 2009 goes to graduand

Catherine MacDonald will be graduating at 10am on Thursday, June 25th, 2009.

Anatomy and Physiology graduand Catherine MacDonald 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.

Catherine (22), who will graduate on Thursday, has combined her academic endeavours with participation in all aspects of student life during her time at Dundee, becoming heavily involved in peer support and student representation.

Catherine represented Dundee when she visited the University of South States in Kazakhstan during 2007 to assist in research work and to help teach English to the academics there.

She was heavily involved in the Peer Connections programme, which sees volunteers work with students who are experiencing difficulties and help them through their problems. She was part of a team who met with first years to help them settle into their studies and adjust to life away from home for the first time.

For the past year she has been Student President of the College of Life Sciences. This role saw her regularly meet with senior academics who sit on the College board, attend various sub-committees, and generally represent Life Sciences students by dealing with matters of importance to them.

'I was quite surprised even to be put forward for this award, and I didn’t really expect to hear any more about it to be honest, but obviously I’m delighted to receive it' said Catherine, who is originally from Hawick.

'Dundee is a great place to study and I’ve loved my time here. The University has such a good reputation for sciences, and it’s entirely justified. The staff here are fantastic and are carrying out exceptional work. I’d really like to say thank you to my two advisors Dr Elliot and Dr Ward for all their help.

'I’m really looking forward to graduation. My parents and grandparents will travelling up for the ceremony, and are all really excited, while my brother and sister will be here to help me celebrate later on.'

Catherine is now hoping to do a Masters in Medical Biotechnology before starting a postgraduate degree in Medicine in 2010. She realises she has several years of study ahead of her, but is very much looking forward to it.

The product of a medical family - her father is a GP and her mother a nurse - Catherine has a lot of work experience behind her, and has also completed a course in suicide prevention skills.

During the early part of her University career, Catherine was part of the hockey and sailing clubs, but her workload meant she couldn’t keep these activities up.

She will remain busy over the summer as she is currently working with adults with learning difficulties in Melrose. Catherine is also involved with a voluntary organisation called the Borders Exploration Group and will help lead a team of 25 who will be doing charity work in Chile next summer.

The scale of the project means the organisational and fundraising work is now well under way and, unsurprisingly, Catherine is heavily involved in these tasks.

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