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Alexander Downer to receive honorary doctorate

Saturday, 16 June 2018

The Hon. Alexander Downer, AC, former ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the longest serving Foreign Affairs Minister in ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥'s history, is to be awarded an honorary doctorate from the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide.

Mr Downer will receive the Doctor of the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ (honoris causa) for his exceptionally distinguished service to ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n society and to the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥.

He served as ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n High Commissioner to the UK from 2014–2018, as Minister for Foreign Affairs during the Howard Liberal Government from 1996–2007, and as Leader of the Liberal Party from 1994–1995.

Mr Downer, who first entered politics in 1984, is also a former Special Adviser to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on Cyprus (2008–2014), and a former Visiting Professor of Politics and International Trade with the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide.

"The ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide is delighted that Alexander Downer will accept an honorary doctorate, in recognition of his long and distinguished service to the people and parliament of ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥," says the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥'s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Rathjen.

"For more than two decades, Mr Downer has dedicated his life to advancing ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥'s international relations and foreign policy, with achievements spanning the areas of security, trade and humanitarian aid.

"As Foreign Minister, Mr Downer was at the forefront of ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n foreign policy during some very turbulent and also progressive times," Professor Rathjen says.

Born in South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ in 1951, Mr Downer is the son of a prominent ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n politician and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sir Alick Downer.

In conjunction with the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide, Mr Downer established the Sir John Downer Oration in 2012 as a biennial public lecture in honour of his grandfather, Sir John Downer. Another notable South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n, Sir John was twice elected Premier of South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥, and in 1901 was elected as one of the first South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n senators in the Federal Parliament.

Mr Downer retired from politics in 2008. He was appointed Companion of the Order of ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ (AC) in 2013.

He will receive his honorary doctorate during the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥'s graduation ceremonies in September 2018.

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