Beryl Nashar Building (GP)
Beryl Nashar Building (GP)
Professor Beryl Nashar AO OBE
1923–2012
This building honours Professor Beryl Nashar, a trailblazing geologist, educator, and one of the founding figures of the University of Newcastle. Born in Maryville and educated locally, Professor Nashar was the first in her family to attend university, graduating with First Class Honours. She topped her class in geology for each year of her undergraduate degree at Sydney University, and was awarded the University Medal in Science. Professor Nashar was the first woman in Australia to win a Rotary Foundation Fellowship (which she took in Cambridge), and only the third Australian to receive the fellowship overall. In 1952, she earned Australia’s first PhD in geology from the University of Tasmania.
Joining Newcastle University College in 1955, Professor Nashar rose to become the University’s Foundation Professor of Geology in 1965 and, in 1969, the first female Dean of Science at any Australian university—a landmark achievement in higher education. Her distinguished career in petrology and mineralogy was matched by her tireless advocacy for women’s participation in science and education. Having benefited from scholarships in her own education, she had great empathy for students suffering difficult circumstances. Her door was always open to both students and colleagues, to provide help and guidance.
Professor Nashar’s legacy extends beyond academia. She served on numerous boards, including those of the Royal Newcastle Hospital and the Greater Newcastle Building Society, and held leadership roles in international organisations such as the Federation of Business and Professional Women. She worked on many academic and community committees, including for the Australian Red Cross, the NSW Police Department, for the creation of the new Medical Faculty at the University of Newcastle and for the creation of the University of Western Sydney.
Her contributions were recognised with numerous honours, including Officer of the Order of the British Empire for service to education and international relations and later an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the community.
The naming of this building ensures that Professor Nashar’s pioneering spirit, scientific excellence, humanity and commitment to equity continue to inspire future generations at the University of Newcastle and beyond.
The University of Newcastle's Foundation Professor of Geology
Beryl Nashar's early Honours research addressed the geology of the Stanhope district in the Hunter Valley. This was later extended to embrace the mineralogy, geochemistry and genetic relations of the Carboniferous and Permian andesitic associations of eastern New South Wales, and the conditions of formation of secondary minerals in these andesitic and basic rocks. She published a number of books and tens of research papers, and her expertise was often called on by the university, boards and committees, and government.
LINKS
Hunter Living Histories and Special Collections, the University of Newcastle Library
https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2017/03/08/international-womens-day-8-march-2017-professor-beryl-nashar/
External Links
https://www.gsa.org.au/Public/Public/Specialist_Groups/ESHG_Sub_Pages/ESHG_Individual_Biographies/Beryl_Scott_Nashar.aspx
https://soundcloud.com/uoncc/interview-with-beryl-nashar
Professor Beryl Nashar
Oil on composition board
133 x 102 cm
The University Art Collection