Extraordinary vision: Griffith academic nation’s first blind female dean
A biomedical scientist who put herself through university while juggling responsibilities for her four children has made history by becoming the first blind female dean of an Australian university.
Professor Linda Agnew, who lost her sight while in the middle of her PhD seven years ago, has been appointed the new Dean (Academic) for Griffith Health.
Prof Dean gained her qualifications studying remotely while bringing up her children in Mount Isa.
“I had a gradual deterioration of sight over 10 years and am completely blind now and have been for 7 years,” she said.
“At the time I didn’t really know what was feasible and I feel blessed to be able to achieve what I have achieved.”
Dean started her academic career with a Bachelor of Science earned in the 1990s.
“It was before online learning and the university would send a thick wad of course materials by post and you had to type out your assessment submissions on paper and post it back for marking,” she said.
“My parents were £10 Poms and came from hard-working, blue-collar families, none of my family had been to university before, so I was the first in my family to go to university.”
Eventually, she moved her family to Armidale to be closer to the University of New England, where she ended up taking on a series of leadership roles before her Griffith post.
Agnew said she was determined not to let her blindness affect the quality of her work.
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“I received the diagnosis that I had a degenerative retinal condition when I was in my final year of my PhD, so I needed to make a choice about whether I would continue to pursue my passion in Biomedical science and academia or walk away,” she said.
“It was a difficult decision to make because of the unknown but figured I’d already invested 7 years of my life into an undergraduate, honours and a PhD and I didn’t want to walk away, so chose to continue.”
She said her determination to succeed was driven by the likelihood that one or more of her children could inherit the same condition.
“I made a pact that whatever happened, I would model to my children that anything is achievable, and you can achieve great outcomes and be a contributing member of society despite the challenges.,” she said.
Agnew is involved in several mentoring programs in the disability sector and is on the board of Vision Australia.
