$1 million gift to fund new scholarships

Charles Darwin University will establish a new scholarship program after having received a bequest of more than $1 million from the estate of a generous 96-year-old Sydney woman.

The late Miss Nancy Kingsland specified in her will that the funds were to be used for the recruitment and retention of remote Indigenous students into a higher education course.

CDU External Relations Manager Mr Martin Redhead said that Miss Kingsland and her sister, Mrs Alison Jackson, had expressed a wish to make a meaningful contribution in support of Indigenous students.

“Naturally, we are delighted that they chose CDU,” Mr Redhead said.

“The will directs that a scholarship fund be established in the name of Alison Mary Jackson and Nancy Rosemary Kingsland within the mission of our Australian Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Education.

“It further stipulates that beneficiaries must be enrolled in a higher education degree or post-graduate course in either nursing, primary health, land care and management, or other areas of study close to the ‘spirit and intention of the bequest’.”

Mr Redhead said the endowment would be managed by the CDU Foundation in accordance with a strict investment policy and the conditions outlined in the bequest.

“The Foundation manages a number of similar endowments, including the Edgar Dunis Scholarship for Art, the Sandy Nairn Memorial Fund, the Ryan Family Prize, the Flynn Family Scholarship and the Garth and Lorna Robertson Scholarship in Social Sciences," he said.

“The Kingsland-Jackson bequest is sufficient to fund an ongoing scholarship program to the value of $30,000 a year.

“Details will become available at the Scholarships Office in due course.”