Margaret Sheather Award

Margaret Sheather

Recently renamed and refocused, the Margaret Sheather Memorial Award in Statistics was established in 2010 in memory of Department of Statistics’ former Department Head, Simon Sheather’s mother. Margaret Sheather lived her life helping others. In 2015, Simon Sheather had the award changed from a general statistics award to an analytics award, with the first award being presented in 2015/2016. Past recipients of the Margaret Sheather Memorial Award in Statistics were Xiaolei Xun in 2010, Michelle Pflueger in 2011, Alexander Little in 2012, Elizabeth Jennings in 2013 and  Weiyin Zhou in 2014. The first Analytics student recipient of the award was Sasi Shifarraw in 2015, Pablo Ormachea in 2016, Patty Stanton in 2017, and John Bonfardeci II in 2018. Margaret Sheather’s dedication to her family, friends, colleagues and even those strangers in need in the community was simply extraordinary. Margaret Sheather had a long and distinguished career in the field of nursing where her roles ranged from general nursing to serving as matron of Prestonia Private Hospital for Geriatrics in Melbourne, Australia, where she worked for 26 years. Margaret was the mother of four sons, all of which, she played an active role in their lives. She encouraged their creativity, helped them discover their strengths, and all the while provided the patience and support needed to ensure their happiness and success. Margaret’s generous nature and giving heart made her an unusually exceptional person. She ran fundraising campaigns for the school her sons attended in order to provide books and supplies needed for the kids, as well as participated in many charitable organizations in the community. Margaret’s positive outlook on life made her the perfect role model for a successful life and career.