Dr Lis Kirkby, our 93-year-old graduate

24 April 2014

At 93 years of age, Dr Lis Kirkby has become Australia's oldest graduate.

She was the state leader of a major political party, played a lead role in a primetime television drama, fought for social change and worked at a radio station in a newly decolonised Malaysia. Now at 93 years of age, Dr Lis Kirkby is Australia's oldest PhD graduate.

Dr Kirkby's PhD thesis, 'Will we ever learn from history: the impact of economic orthodoxy on unemployment during the Great Depression in Australia', was completed in late 2013 through the University of Sydney Business School's Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies.

"A love of learning is essential," Dr Kirkby told the Australian.

"I say that to people, that you really have to have an enthusiasm or passion for something. You can't believe that when you retire you just play golf or bowls or sit round with your mates. You always have to do something."

Dr Kirkby decided to pursue her PhD after watching conservative governments determined to reduce spending, repeat the same mistakes they made in the Great Depression after the GFC took hold.

"The importance of linking the 1930s to the GFC is to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. It is now more important than ever for people to realise that the economy cannot be run to suit the needs of the most privileged at the expense of the least privileged", she says.

"As long as you have a financial system that only looks at how banking interests can make profit without any consideration of how this affects ordinary people, or even other countries, the world is going to get in a worse and worse state."

Acting Dean of The Business School, Professor David Grant, congratulated Dr Kirkby on her accomplishment:

"Her graduation marks another special achievement in her life. She is an inspiration to us all in the Business School, and we are proud to have had her carry out her doctoral studies with us."

Unlike many of her fellow students, Dr Kirkby has the advantage of being able to draw on a lifetime of experiences. She saw first-hand the effects of the Great Depression while growing up in England, and served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service in World War II. She lived in Malaysia during the Malayan Emergency and stayed on in her role as a radio producer following independence. After working for ABC Radio in Sydney, Dr Kirkby became a television celebrity, starring as Lucy Sutcliffe in the hit series Number 96.

However, it was Dr Kirkby's work in politics that really supported her postgraduate studies. As a member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales and state leader of the Australian Democrat party from 1981 to 1998, Dr Kirkby campaigned tirelessly to decriminalise homosexuality, improve workers' rights, improve conditions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and establish equal rights and opportunities for women. Prior to entering Parliament, she had opposed the Vietnam War, and was a member of the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL). Her research became increasingly linked to these endeavours for social justice.


Even after all she faced as a political leader, media personality and social rights campaigner, Dr Kirkby found commencing university as daunting as any other new student.

"After leaving school I didn't go on to university, which was what had been expected, and it wasn't until 2002 that I thought okay, I'll go back to it! Why not?"

"Of course I had to do public exams at the end of every year and go and sit in a room and write. The first time it was terrifying because I hadn't done it for 70 years!"

While Dr Kirkby is aware that her age has set her apart from her fellow PhD candidates, she doesn't see it as a disadvantage. In fact, she believes the collective youth and inexperience of major finance corporations was a significant factor in the emergence of the GFC.

"When Goldman Sachs was in trouble in 2007-2008 there was no corporate memory. There was nobody who had any real knowledge of what had happened to Goldman Sachs prior to 1980," she says.

"I believe that people should be judged in old age on their capacity, not on their chronological age. I think it is terribly wrong that as soon as a person reaches a certain age they are automatically written off as too old. It really is infuriating that people assume you can't do something because of your age."

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