To close 2024 on a high note, the School of History wishes to congratulate the following members of its community for their recent achievements:

• Congratulations to Emily Gallagher and Jessica Urwin, whose PhD theses were shortlisted for the 2024 Lyndall Ryan Thesis Prize administered by InASA. The Lyndall Ryan Thesis Prize celebrates excellence in PhD research in the interdisciplinary field of Australian Studies. The shortlist consists of six theses, and the winner will be announced at the InASA conference at Macquarie University on 5-7 February 2025. Bravo, Emily and Jess!
• Beth Marsden received funding from the ANU Gender Institute 2025 Signature Events scheme for ‘Taking back our stories’: Talking about Indigenous Women’s Family History Research. This is the third in a series of initiatives supporting Indigenous family history and access to archives led by Ann McGrath’s ARC Laureate project. In addition to the residential research program, a public forum will be held in February 2025 to showcase the importance of the program to Indigenous family historians, academic and public understandings of history, and to disseminate ideas and practical advice on developing similar programs. We look forward to welcoming Indigenous family history researchers and scholars in the new year.
• Ann McGrath, was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Residency at the Bellagio Centre, Italy, to take place in September and October 2025. Ann has been awarded this prestigious fellowship for the second time, and it is a great acknowledgment of her innovative work and international standing. While there, Ann will work on her project ‘Sydney’s Primitive Earth: How Clay Transported Origin Stories between Hemispheres’.
• Stephen Wilks' chapter ‘“Falling Dully” on His Ears: Menzies, Bolte, and the Travails of Australian Federalism’ was recently published in The Menzies Ascendancy: Fortune, Stability, Progress 1954-1961, edited by Zachary Gorman (Melbourne University Press 2024). The chapter concerns federalism, Menzies, and his fraught relationship with Victorian Premier Henry Bolte over the issue of uniform income taxation. Some of the research for the chapter was supported by a School of History research grant.
• The wonderful RSSS Admin team, who received a richly deserved CASS Professional Staff award for Excellence in Engagement and CASS Community Participation, announced at last week’s CASS morning tea. Congratulations to the whole team, with much appreciation for all the work you do.

Congratulations to all for their outstanding contributions and achievements!